


Discovery

by Marvelouswrites



Category: Star Wars, Star Wars Legends: Jedi Knight (Video Games), Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: Multi, Written pre-force awakens
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-12
Updated: 2020-04-21
Packaged: 2021-03-01 04:00:49
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 12
Words: 27,982
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23118868
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Marvelouswrites/pseuds/Marvelouswrites
Summary: Kyle Katarn and his student Jaden Korr stumble across something undiscovered for years.
Relationships: CT-21-0408 | Echo/Original Character(s), CT-27-5555 | Fives | ARC-5555/Original Character(s)
Comments: 9
Kudos: 17





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> I'm reposting my old star wars fic in the hope that it'll encourage me to finish it!
> 
> -This fic is currently under re-write-

The wind howled as it wove through the twisting spires of stone. Red dust rose in swirling eddies that broke against harsh inclines. A figure in grey stood at the mouth of a deep cave, the ends of a ragged cloak hanging like a burial shroud nearly to the ground. They looked down at their boots, at the rust-red dirt that caked the once pristine black leather. Something rustled and whimpered deeper in the cave, but the sound stopped immediately as the grey-clothed figure snapped their fingers. A gust of wind blew a scree of red sand across the mouth of the cave and after a moment the figure left the shelter and stepped onto a windswept plateau, stopping just short of an overhang. 

They looked up and out across the vista, a violet sky pierced by innumerable mountain ranges, breaking the horizon like a jagged line of snarling teeth. Two suns hung low and heavy in the sky, casting long shadows across the red dirt. Suddenly, the commlink on the figures gauntlet blipped and they raised it to their ear, listening for a moment before tapping once on the mic in acknowledgment. The line cut dead and they stepped forward, arms outstretched. A second later they clenched their fists and brought their arms tight against their sides. 

A distant rumble could be heard, and mere moments later, the far off wail of a siren.

Satisfied that their work was complete, the figure turned and stepped back into the cave.


	2. Chapter 1

Kyle Katarn and his student Jaden Korr were on their way back to the Jedi Academy after a decidedly boring mission; sent to investigate the rumors of an Imperial Remnant base in an asteroid belt near Lola Sayu. There was a base; but it was long abandoned. Kyle and Jaden had to wear enviro suits the whole time, as no atmosphere had existed in the asteroid for years. Satisfied, but also a little disappointed on the lack of action the two departed. Navigating through the asteroid field was not difficult with the help of the Force, so Kyle and Jaden chatted amiably as the flew.

"So Kyle, what's the craziest thing Master Skywalker ever asked you to do?"  
Jaden asked with a grin. Kyle chuckled,  
"Huh...the craziest thing...it's gonna be hard to choose." He said.  
Jaden laughed, Master Skywalker always seemed to have something insane that needed to be taken care of. Kyle grinned and continued,

"So when I went to get my lightsaber back from Luke, all I asked him to do was hold on to the damn thing until I needed it again, and he goes and hides it in a kriffin' temple! To top it off, I had to complete all these crazy tests to get it back. It was like the whole damn temple was rigged just for me; to this day I don't know if Luke found the place like that or making stupid tests is a hobby of his."  
Jaden gave Kyle a sly grin,

"Kind of like the tests you put Rosh and I through?" She asked.  
"Yeah but you guys were just kids, I'd been through it all before, " Kyle replied with grin.  
He paused,

"Plus, those were nothing. Just some simple tests to see how you guys handled the basics."  
Suddenly his expression changed, a frown replacing the snarky grin. He looked over his shoulder.

"Kyle, what's the matter?"  
Jaden asked, she hadn't noticed anything.  
"it's-do you feel that?" He asked.  
The Twi'lek frowned,  
"Feel what?"  
"There's a call, in the Force. It's very faint." Kyle murmured.

Jaden closed her golden eyes and concentrated. She did feel it a faint- almost desperate- feeling in the fabric of the Force. She opened her eyes. Kyle had turned the ship his eyes closed and a frown of concentrating wrinkling his brow.  
"What do you think it is?"  
Jaden asked.  
"I don't know, but it doesn't feel dangerous. It feels more like-"  
"A call for help."  
Jaden finished and Kyle nodded grimly. They continued on in silence, both focused on the call within the Force.  
Hours or minutes later-time was lost this deep in the Force-Kyle stopped the ship and opened his eyes.  
A derelict hulk of half a ship floated in front of them. Jaden stood up to peer out of the view-screen,

"What is that?"  
she asked, Kyle undid his seat belt, slowly stood up, and pressed his hand to the view screen; reaching out with the Force to probe the ship.

"I don't know, but whatever is calling to us is there."  
"Let's check it out."  
He maneuvered the ship closer to the wreck and then joined Jaden in the hold where she was getting into her envirosuit. As she tucked her head-tails into the helmet, Jaden remarked,

"I don't recognize the make of that ship, it doesn't look like anything the New Republic uses."  
Kyle sealed his helmet and clicked on the comm system, his voice crackling for a moment as he responded,

"It doesn't look Imperial either, hopefully we'll find some answers inside."  
Jaden nodded and Kyle popped the Raven Claw's hatch and they floated the few feet to the hull of the wreck. Jaden ignited one of her lightsabers and slowly carved a hole for them to float through. The yellow light flickered harshly in the darkness of space and cast odd reflections on Jaden's helmet. She pulled the hunk of metal out with a quick burst of the Force and it floated away soundlessly. Once inside they clicked on their headlamps and froze.  
Whatever had torn the ship in half had also destroyed what appeared to be a carbonite block. Floating in front of them was a large chunk and inside-

"Is that?!"  
"A Clone Trooper."  
Kyle murmured, stunned. He had served under an aged Clone Commander when he first joined the Imperial army all those years ago, and he recognized the man's face, even though this clone was far younger than the Commander. Jaden floated forward, using the Force to push herself along. Kyle heard her gasp and felt her shock as she passed the dead man. Kyle followed and stopped dead; there were more.  
The headlamps on the enviro suits only shone so far in the pitch black of the ship, but Kyle could see at least two more carbonite blocks. Jaden was alongside the first, her gloved hand tracing the sharp features of the man inside.

"By the Force Kyle-they're still alive!"  
Indeed they were-Kyle could feel them, very faintly, in the Force; and upon closer inspection the lights on the edge of the carbonite were blinking. Kyle turned his helmet lights to examine the man closer, when he heard Jaden cry out, static filtering through the enviro suits comm system.

"I found her Kyle-it's a Jedi!" Jaden's shout crackled through the intercom.  
Kyle left off his inspection of the bald Clone Trooper and floated over to Jaden, the feedback from the There were three more carbonite blocks between he and the Twi'lek-all with troopers frozen at attention. There, at the very back of the ship was the last block. Inside there was a small figure, a Togruta girl, with what were obviously lightsabers strapped to her belt. Kyle floated a few feet above the ground, totally shocked. Both he and Jaden were silent for a long moment. The Force call they had been responding to was coming from this Jedi. He knew it.

"We've got to bring them back to the Academy. Luke needs to know about this."  
He said. Jaden nodded slowly,  
"Do you know how long they've been here?"  
She asked, her voice quiet. Kyle looked around, trying to see any indication of what this ship's original mission had been. There was nothing, there weren't even seats. A cargo ship then?   
He frowned, this was a puzzle.

"This has to be a Jedi Commander and her troops. Back in the Clone Wars, the Jedi served as Generals in the army. "  
Jaden looked closely at the small girl in front of them.

"But she's so young." She said.  
"They started them as babies back then, according to what Luke's told me." Kyle murmured.  
Jaden floated there, doing some mental math.

"The Clone Wars...They've had to have been here for almost forty years..."  
The implications were staggering. Luke was constantly searching for knowledge of the old Jedi Order, and now there was a Jedi right in front of them. How much they could learn.

"Jaden, start unstrapping them. I'll bring the Raven's Claw around. We'll bring them back to Yavin 4 with us."

Kyle floated back through the hole Jaden had cut and boarded his ship. Jaden started to the front half of the wreck, pausing as she made her way back to inspect each person more closely. Obviously the clones were all going to be the same, but it was still very unsettling to see four identical men frozen in identical poses. There were a few differences; no man had the same haircut and their armor was all different, but the faces...they all had the same sharp features, with strong jaws and high cheekbones. She reached out with the Force. There was nothing other than the faint throb of life and the more distinct feel of the Jedi behind her; the young Togruta was another puzzle. She was so young, probably only a teenager, yet Kyle said these were probably soldiers under her command.   
The young Jedi felt...bright, in the Force. There was not conscious mind for Jaden to interact with, but the feel the Force gave her was a good one, even dulled by the carbonite coma.

"I'm coming around Jaden, be ready to guide them in."  
Kyle's gruff voice crackled over the intercom, startling Jaden out of her reverie.  
Jaden began to unstrap the carbonite blocks, starting with the Clone in the front. His armor was simple, resembling the Stormtrooper gear Jaden was familiar with. Using the Force, the twi'lek floated the frozen man along the ramp Kyle had extended and into the cargo hold of the Raven's Claw. Eventually all five were aboard and strapped down. Jaden hesitated,

"Kyle, what about-what about the dead guy? It doesn't- I don't know, it's not right. We should give him a proper burial."  
Kyle grunted in acknowledgment and Jaden grimly floated the corpse onto the Claw. After she got all the Clones and the Jedi safely stowed, Jaden sealed the cargo hold and went to remove her envirosuit. She ran her hands along her tattoo'd lekku as she headed back to the cockpit-she was nervous-and fascinated and sad. She could feel a similar mix of emotions from Kyle as they sped away from the now empty wreck. 

Once they were in hyperspace, Kyle stood up and went back to the cargo hold, leaving Jaden to keep an eye on everything. He walked among the frozen bodies and looked at each. He recognized a few of the rank symbols on the Clone's armor; they had used pretty much the same system in the Imperial army. The bald Clone wore a captain's stripes and his armor was dented and scraped, even through the carbonite Kyle could tell that he had been through some tough scrapes. The next Clone wore regular armor-a private, his armor didn't look new either. The other two appeared to be special forces of some kind. Kyle didn't recognize the insignia's, but their armor was heavier and looked specialized. Last, he stepped over and studied the Jedi. She was was very young-her head tails barely covered her shoulders-and she was quite short.

"Barely a teenager."  
He muttered. Reaching out with the Force, he attempted to soothe the desperate call that still resonated from the young woman.  
It quieted a little.

++++

When they arrived at the Jedi Academy on Yavin 4, Luke was waiting for them, along with a few other Jedi. Kyle stepped off the landing ramp and shook the Jedi master's hand.

"Kyle, It's good to see you."  
"You too Luke. There was nothing at the base, but we found something you really need to see."  
Luke's normally calm features were concerned, but Kyle could feel the excitement bubbling beneath the surface.

"Yes, the Jedi. Where did you find them?"  
The two men walked to the rear of the Raven's Claw, where Jaden was unloading the frozen people with the help of Tionne Solusar, the Jedi Academy's historian, and Leena Tofegaard. Leena was a Lorrdian and the resident healer. She was scanning the carbonite blocks with a look of serious concern. Kyle explained to Luke what happened as they approached; Leena caught Kyle's eye as they neared and closed her medical scanner with a snap. She hurried to meet them, long robes rustling as she moved.

"Master Skywalker, Kyle, these people need to be revived-and quickly."  
She said, her normally smooth voice sharp with concern. Kyle frowned,  
"They've kept for forty years Leena, I think they can wait an hour."  
Leena shook her head,  
"Yes, they've survived, but barely. Carbonite stasis is hardly medically viable. Who knows what kind of issues they'll face? Blindness at least, brain damage is very likely, not to mention their psychological states!"

Luke held up a calming hand.  
"What do you suggest Leena?"  
The woman smoothed her robes, frowning.  
"I think it would be best to remove them from the carbonite-but keep them in a medically induced coma until we can do a more thorough examination."  
Luke remained quiet, searching the Force.  
"Yes. No need to endanger them any further. Kyle, perhaps you can help me find any information about these people?"  
Jaden closed the cargo hold hatch and walked over to meet them.

"Hello, Master Skywalker. We found a dead clone with the others. I'd like to give him a proper burial."  
"Of course Jaden, but make sure to note anything that could identify him."  
The twi'lek nodded grimly and turned back to start her unpleasant task.

++++

After digging through old files and information obtained from the Coruscant archives. Luke and Kyle had found little, but it was a start. With Kyle's observations about the Clone's rank the search had been narrowed-slightly. The Clone Captain was a member of the 501st, a company of Clones that had served under General Anakin Skywalker. Luke was very excited about this discovery, finding a connection to his father-before he had become Darth Vader- was something he had hoped to come across for many years. He hoped that there was a way for him to speak the Captain, whose only ID other than his rank was a number, CT-7567. Luke needed to know who his father had been, not who he had become.

The other Clones were harder to ID. Again, Kyle's knowledge of the Imperial army was right-there were two special forces soldiers. Known as Advance Recon Commandos, or ARC troopers. Their ID's were listed as CT-5555 and CT-21-0408., Although it was impossible to know which was which. After Jaden sent the information she found while burying the dead clone, they discovered that the last trooper and the dead trooper were both members of a different company, and were listed as CT-2368 and CT-4566.   
The Jedi, however, was unknown. There was no information to be found on her, at least in what they had access to. She must be connected to one of the companies the troopers were with, but which one was unknown. After several hours, Kyle and Luke broke for lunch, they were cautiously optimistic with their findings. As they left the computer center they both felt a disturbance in the Force. They took off running, headed toward the med-center. They reached the door and Luke force-pushed it open. Inside, Leena and Jaden were struggling with the Clone trooper CT-2368.

"What's happening?!"  
Kyle shouted. Leena was so focused she didn't respond. Jaden looked up, her eyes wide and panicked.  
"He's going into a seizure of some kind!"  
She shouted, Kyle could feel Leena struggling to stabilize the man's life force, and she was losing. Luke ran forward and placed his hands on the man's shoulders, focusing to try and help Leena. Healing was not Kyle's strong suit, so he helped Jaden keep the twitching man from falling off the bed.

"NO!"  
Leena cried, and they all felt the man's spirit slip away as his body fell still.  
"Damn it!"  
Leena slammed her fist on the edge of the bed. Her despair was palpable.  
"What happened?"  
Kyle asked as Luke gently closed the man's eyes.  
"I-I was attempting to contact his subconscious through the Force. He was so faint. I tried to stabilize him-I pushed too hard." said Leena.  
Jaden gently placed her hand on her friend's shoulder.  
"You did what you could."  
She whispered. Leena remained silent.  
Luke studied the dead man's face.  
He was so young, In fact, as he looked over at the other Clones-all unconscious-he saw they were all young, younger than him. He turned back to Leena, who was covering the dead clone with a sheet.

"Do you think the others have a better chance?"  
Luke inquired, The woman sighed deeply. She gently let her hand rest on the dead clones chest.  
"Yes. I believe so."  
She turned and walked slowly to the bed of one of the Arc troopers. He wore his dark hair very short, just like the rest of the clones, and his clean shaven face looked very serious, even while unconscious. Leena gently touched the man's forehead.  
"They are all in peak physical condition,"  
She said,  
"But their mental state is...less than ideal."  
"Well, they were in the middle of a war."  
Kyle put in. Leena's expression was grim.  
"Yes, but it seems almost...nightmarish. It's difficult to explain. I've treated PTSD and trauma survivors, and this seems different. Each man's nightmares are...the same. It's almost as if they were artificial."  
"Artificial nightmares? Why would that make any sense?"  
Jaden asked. Kyle sighed,  
"None of this makes sense Jaden. What were they doing out there? And in carbonite? Why wouldn't have someone searched for them?"  
Luke shook his head,  
"We weren't able to find out anything about their mission, but we did find out who these men are. Sort of.  
He handed the datapad with the information he and Kyle had discovered to Leena. She read it quickly,

"Numbers? No names?"  
"It was probably more efficient to number the clones than to name them. There were thousands of these guys running around during the wars."  
Kyle added.  
"Thousands..."  
Jaden echoed, looking at the identical, unconscious men. She shuddered.  
"How could they justify that?! Bringing so many beings into life just to die in a war they hardly had any stake in?"  
"I agree Jaden, and from what we know about the wars it was not a popular decision. I find it difficult to believe the Jedi would have agreed to it."  
Said Luke, his blue eyes moving to the unconscious Togruta on the other side of the room.  
"Speaking of which, Leena, how is the Jedi?"  
Leena tucked the data pad into her pocket and crossed the room, gesturing to the others to follow.

"She seems well physically, and as far as I can tell she is free from the nightmare the others are suffering. "  
She paused, and looked to Luke.  
"I wanted to try and reach her with your help Master Skywalker. As callous as it seems, I want to wait until we have woken up the others successfully, to lower the risk of us losing her."

Luke gazed down at the unconscious Jedi, his expression unfathomable.  
"I agree Leena. Who knows what kind of information she'd be able to give us about the Jedi of old? Keep a careful watch on her, call me if anything changes."  
Leena nodded, and looked back at the unconscious clones.  
"I'm going to run a few more tests. Jaden, will you help me?"

The twi'lek nodded and the two women moved to a computer terminal at the back of the med-center. Kyle and Luke decided to forgo lunch, death left a bad taste in the mouth. They returned to the computer center to try and dig up more information on their mysterious guests.


	3. Chapter 2

Leena and Jaden spent the next several hours sifting through various medical texts and Jedi knowledge to try and discover the source of the Clone's nightmare. Finally Jaden put down her data pad and looked across the table at her friend, who was studying a text on genetics.  
"What exactly is this nightmare the Clones all have Leena? Maybe that'll help."  
Leena looked up,  
"Well, it wasn't very coherent-it wouldn't be as they're comatose, not asleep-but it was the same feeling. A secret doom pressing on the back of their minds, a subconscious...order, almost, to carry out something against their very nature. It was very disturbing."  
She finished with an almost imperceptible shudder.  
"Can you show me?"  
Leena hesitated, then nodded, and the two women made their way to the side of a bed. Leena took out the data pad and consulted it.  
"This is either CT-5555 or CT-21-0408. They're,"  
She referenced the data-pad again,  
"ARC troopers. Special forces,"  
She finished. Jaden gave a little smile,  
"I think this is CT-5555."  
"How do you know?"  
Leena asked, surprised. The twi'lek gently traced a tattoo on the man's temple with a lilac finger. The tattoo was a "5."  
"Oh."  
They sat on the floor and crossed their legs, preparing to meditate.  
"Before we get started Jaden, you must be careful, we don't want him to wake up yet."  
Jaden nodded sharply, she had no desire to see another man die today. The two women closed their eyes and slipped into a trance.

Jaden could feel Leena in the Force, and the faint traces of the Clones were like lights under blankets, the Togruta Jedi was brighter, but still hidden. She focused on the soft presence in front of her and was dropped into a war zone.  
Images of violence and order were playing in rapid succession, like a propaganda film

GOOD SOLDIERS FOLLOW ORDERS

The phrase was screamed in silence over and over and over again. It was inescapable; heavy and constant.  
Jaden felt like she was going mad.  
Then she felt Leena in the Force. She began to pull away, trying to escape but Leena suddenly disappeared into the silent cacophony. Jaden cast around in the darkness, she could feel stirring in the depths of CT-5555's mind and knew they were close to waking him.  
Suddenly she was back in her own body in the med-center and Leena was up and running to the surgery table.  
"I figured it out!"  
She cried, almost frantic. She quickly located what she was looking for and hurried back, accidentally kicking Jaden in the leg as the twi'lek tried to dive out of her way.  
"Leena wait-what?!"

The twi'lek was moved out of the way by a surgical droid, which proceeded to lay a disinfectant field over the clone's head. Jaden ran to the other side of the bed. The man's face was no longer still-he was waking up.  
"Leena wait. What are you doing?! He's waking up."

Leena froze halfway through removing her loose outer robe. She calmed, reaching out through the Force. Jaden felt her soothe the soldier back into an unconscious state. She then finished taking off her robe and reached for an anesthetic syringe.  
"I figured out what's causing this nightmare, what's keeping us out."  
She injected the anesthetic into the already unconscious Clone and turned to the surgeon droid. It opened it's chest to reveal several trays of operating equipment. Leena selected a few tools and then stopped to explain to her friend.

"While we were connected, I tried to discover where exactly the nightmare originated. You noticed how foreign it felt, right?"  
Jaden nodded,  
"Well that's because it is. Someone put something into these men to play that message while they sleep, over and over and over,"  
Jaden looked horrified,  
"Like brainwashing?"  
Leena turned to the droid and it produced a razor, with a nod from Leena, it began to shave a portion of the Clones hair. The human woman took a step away from the droid and continued,  
"More like programming, there is a control chip, in this man's brain."

And with that, she returned to the bed and waved Jaden off. The twi'lek turned away, disturbed. Her head spinning, and trying to block out the sounds of Leena cutting into a man's skull, she picked up the data-pad from Master Skywalker and tried to focus on that. It only partially worked.

Surprisingly, the operation didn't take very long. Leena was very good at her practice.  
A few minutes after the droid had finished by applying a bacta patch to the wound, Leena beckoned Jaden back over. She held a small vial in her hand and offered it to Jaden as she approached.  
"Is that it?"  
There was a small blob of tissue in the vial. It almost looked like a tumor.  
"Yes!"  
Leena gushed, she was fascinated.  
"But it's only partially organic. I've never seen anything like this!"  
She hurried over to a terminal and scanned the tumor.  
"Yes, this was implanted, most likely very early in fetal development. "  
She continued to talk, but Jaden was hardly listening. She walked next to the unconscious Clone and reached out with the Force. He was awake. Well, sort of, he was out of the coma but still under the influence of the anesthetic.  
"Leena..."  
Jaden called over her shoulder, eyes locked on the unconscious man's face. There was no response from Leena; who was buried in dissecting and discovering the weird implants secrets. Jaden leaned closer, CT-5555's expression had calmed. A thought flitted, unbidden, across Jaden's mind.  
"He's really quite handsome."  
She immediately pushed it away. She stood straight, and with another glance at Leena, sat down and began to meditate.


	4. Awakening: Fives

Fives was back on Kamino in the medical ward. Everything was the same, clean and white, the rain pounding against the curved outer dome.   
Completely familiar except...there was no one else around. He wandered through empty white hallway after empty white hallway, feeling oddly at peace.  
"Am I dead?"  
He wondered aloud; his voice didn't echo.   
Strangely, the thought didn't bother him much.   
If he was dead, why would he be back on Kamino? Although it was the closest place to a home he had, this was definitely not where he'd want to end up in the afterlife. Suddenly, he felt another presence.  
"CT-5555?"

A voice filtered through the overhead comm system. It sounded like...  
"General Secura?"

Why would she be on Kamino when no one else was? There was a crackle of static and he turned around. The blue twi'lek Jedi was standing at the end of the hallway he had just walked down.   
Strange, no one had been there a few seconds ago.   
The general looked down at herself; she seemed...surprised? Fives frowned, there was definitely something weird going on. He took a few steps toward the general but was unable to close any distance between them.  
"General Secura, what is going on? Is this some sort of drill?"  
She had been staring at her left hand as if it was new, but looked up sharply as he spoke.  
"A drill? No...not a drill, CT-5555."  
"Fives, sir."  
He corrected, she should know that, he had served under her briefly. She nodded, but didn't seem particularly sure of herself.  
"Fives...of course. Do you remember what you were doing before this, Fives?"  
Fives snapped to attention,  
"Yes sir, we were on a secret mission to rescue general Piel from the Citadel; surely you were briefed, sir?"  
Again, the general nodded, but now Fives was positive that she really had no clue what he was talking about.  
"The Citadel...how were you to arrive at your destination Fives?"  
He squinted; he had perfect vision-all clones did- but he could still not clearly see General Secura's face. All sorts of red flags were popping up now, but he had no clue as to what they could mean. So he continued,  
"We had to be frozen in carbonite sir, to avoid separatist sensors."  
The woman who looked like the General gave a little gasp, as of something had suddenly been made clear.   
He wished for a similar revelation.  
"Ok, so, Fives, what I'm about to tell you is going to be a bit of a shock." She raised her hands in a calming gesture.   
This was not a good sign.  
Maybe he was dead?   
Although why a General Secura look-a-like would be delivering this news was beyond him. Perhaps that less than professional comment he had made to Echo about her "feminine qualities" was coming back around? That wasn't such a bad thought; But why would any of this be happening if he was dead? That line of thinking was leading nowhere helpful, so Fives snapped his attention back to the twi'lek woman. She had been looking vaguely into the distance but returned her attention to him the instant he looked back at her. She bit her lower lip, as if struggling to find the right thing to say. After a moment, she began to speak,

"Fives. You are not awake right now. This is a dream, sort of."  
Sort of a dream? Fives sighed,  
"That's a bit of a relief. I thought,  
He paused, feeling just a little silly.

"Well, I thought I was dead for a moment there."  
The twi'lek's eyebrows shot up; she gave a little laugh and said,  
"Dead? No offense but this would be one shitty afterlife."  
"Not exactly my picture of a good time either,"  
He paused, the pieces clicking together.

"Wait- am I still frozen?!"  
The twi'lek who was definitely not the real General Secura shook her head, lekku twitching,  
"Not-not quite."  
She muttered.  
"Well what the hell does that mean?!"

Feeling more than a little confused and on the edge of panic, Fives couldn't help let his emotions get a hold of him as he shouted  
"What is going on?!"  
The not-General was pacing; she looked very concerned. Fives took a step forward and suddenly was right in front of the woman.

"What is going on. What happened? Did the mission fail? Did we ever even get to the drop point?"  
A million questions and possible answers were spinning through his mind. He grabbed the twi'lek by her shoulders and shook her. Her expression went from shock to strangely blank as she looked over his shoulder into nothingness. Abruptly she looked straight into his eyes and said in a deadly serious tone,  
"You're going to wake up now. You MUST remain as calm as you can, promise me?"  
"Yeah right! I don't even know who or what you are!"  
"You don't have to understand-just try to remain calm. That's an order!"  
She vanished out from his grip,  
"You can't order me!"  
Fives yelled into nothingness, for Kamino was gone, everything was gone-

Fives opened his eyes but couldn't see anything. He tried to move, but nothing happened. He opened his mouth to shout, but all that emerged was a dry croak.

"By the Force Jaden what did you do?!"  
A woman's voice-cultured sounding, with a faint accent- was off to his left. He turned his head in that direction; it took a huge effort, he felt so weak-why was he so weak?! He let out a groan. There was a rustling noise that sounded like someone getting up off the floor. Another voice-the same voice of the not-general in his dream- responded.

"He was waking up Leena, I had to contact him!"  
Footsteps rushing over,  
"Oh!"  
The cultured sounding woman-Leena- gasped. Fives blinked rapidly and swallowed several times, trying to get his dry throat to cooperate.  
"Why can't I see?"  
He rasped. A cool hand gently touched his forehead.

"Hibernation sickness, it should soon pass."  
Leena said. Her hand moved from his forehead and down to his neck, checking his pulse.  
"Who are you? Where am I?"  
He coughed weakly; damn he hated being unable to see!  
"Vitals are good,"  
He heard Leena murmur, her hand left his neck and she touched his arm.  
"Can you feel this?"  
She pressed on the back on his hand.  
"Yes."  
He croaked.  
"Can you squeeze my fingers?"  
He squeezed, the effort it took was frightening.  
"Good! Now the other hand."

Leena-who was obviously a doctor, continued to check his vitals and reactions. As she poked and prodded, Fives tried desperately to orient himself. He had to be in a med-center of some kind. He could hear the soft hum of Bacta tanks and the puttering motor of a droid.

"Where am I? Who are you?!"  
He repeated, again trying to sit up but barely managing to lift his head. Someone put a hand on his shoulder,  
"Don't try to sit up yet. You're still very weak."  
"No kidding."  
Fives groaned. After a lengthy pause, the doctor said,  
"My name is Leena, I'm a doctor. You are currently in a healing center."  
Three things he already knew, very helpful.  
"Are you Jedi?"  
He rasped; no one called med centers "healing centers" except for the Jedi.  
"Yes,"  
Said the other voice- Jaden, he had heard Leena call her- she sounded younger, and had a Courescanti accent. He felt another hand gently touch his wrist.  
Being unable to see whose hands were on him and assess the potential threat was making him very uncomfortable.   
Both women withdrew their hands almost as soon as the thought crossed his mind. Yeah, they were definitely Jedi; knowing that calmed him a bit. 

He lay still for a while, listening to the Jedi move around the room, and to the soft hums and clicks made by the machinery in the room. He thought back to the beginning of the mission to Lola Sayu. He, Echo and-Echo! He tried to sit up again, but he was so weak that the movement ended up as just an awkward, jerking motion. He must have knocked something over because there was a very loud clatter and the med droid let out a low 'Oh no.'  
"What's wrong?!"  
Jaden said; he heard her run to the side of his bed. He tried to sit up again, and she grabbed his arm to help steady him.  
"Fives? Are you ok? What's wrong?"  
She asked again, her voice full of concern.

Fives rasped a question,  
"There were others, on the mission."  
He paused to cough roughly. Jaden adjusted the bed so he could sit up without straining and his coughing subsided.  
"Thank you,"  
He gasped and continued his question, feeling more in control now that he was upright.  
"There were others, on the mission, two Jedi, six other clones. Where are they?"  
"Two Jedi..."  
Jaden sounded surprised. She took a deep breath and continued,  
"We found...five of you. Four clones, one Jedi."  
"Found?"  
Fives echoed,  
"What do you mean 'found'?"

Jaden was quiet again. Fives shifted around, trying to gauge how much of his movement was back while he waited for the woman to answer. Everything was so...wrong. He couldn't see, he could barely move and the mission...well, it sounded like the whole carefully planned operation had never even began. He stopped flexing his toes and asked,  
"Your name is Jaden, right? Commander or General?"  
If she was a general, then she would (hopefully) be able to give him more information, something he badly needed.  
"Uh..."

There was a long, uncomfortable pause.  
"I, uh, I haven't been deployed."  
Jaden responded. Fives frowned, as far as he knew, all Jedi were deployed in some way or another, unless maybe she was much younger than she sounded.

"Are you a...a Padawan, then? How old are you?"  
Jaden sniffed,  
"I'm twenty-six, and a fully fledged Jedi Knight."  
She sounded a little offended.  
"Then, why aren't you deployed, Sir."

There was another long pause. Something was definitely off here. A Jedi Knight with no command? When the Jedi were so desperately needed on the battlefield? Maybe...maybe she was defective in some way.   
He had never heard of a defective Jedi; what happened to the ones who couldn't cut the training? Were they put on cleaning detail, like Ninety-nine had been? His thoughts were interrupted by a sharp sigh from Jaden, who said  
"I'll be right back."  
And then walked away. He could hear her boots clicking against the floor and craned his neck towards the direction in which they had stopped, listening hard.  
He could hear her speaking softly to the other woman, Leena. He couldn't catch much, but he was pretty sure he heard  
"Master Skywalker"

Skywalker. Good. He settled back into the bed cushions and gave a sigh. If any Jedi would be straight with him it would be General Skywalker. Jaden's boots clicked along the floor again, and he heard a door swish open and then shut again. Fives listened to the soft hums and clicks of the medcentre, and to Leena mutter as she typed in the back of the room. If he hadn't been so anxious, it would have been very peaceful. He waited for a what seemed for a long while; he spent the time flexing his leg muscles until he could almost bring his knees up to his chest.

Fives fell asleep; exhausted from his exercises, he drifted off quickly and for the first time since he could remember, he didn't have the nightmare. Eventually he was awakened by whispered voices at the side of his bed. He lay perfectly still; listening carefully.

"-asked if I was a Commander or a General. I didn't know what to say, so I told him I wasn't deployed."  
Jaden was talking, her voice sounded strained and she was speaking quickly. Fives heard a gruff male voice ask,  
"Then what?"  
"He asked how old I was- Do I sound like a kid or something?" Jaden sounded annoyed, and the man gave a low chuckle.  
"Anyway, he seemed surprised that I wasn't a Padawan, and asked why I wasn't deployed...I didn't know how to answer."  
"And that's when you came to me and Luke?"  
"Yeah...Where is Master Skywalker? He said he'd meet us here right away."   
The man sighed heavily,  
"Probably got pulled into some matter of state with Leia; he'll get here."

Fives was confused, and alarmed, he was positive that General Skywalker's given name was NOT Luke. This Master Skywalker didn't sound like the General he knew...'matter of state?' Again that feeling of something being very, very wrong pressed against his mind. Suddenly the conversation stopped. There was a moment's silence and then suddenly Jaden addressed him,  
"How are you feeling Fives?"

Fives slowly opened his eyes and then immediately wished he hadn't. He still couldn't see- but now everything was bright as opposed to dark. He grunted and shook his head, blinking furiously to try and clear his watery eyes.

"Better, I think...everything's bright now."  
"That's good, better than dark, right?" Jaden said, suddenly the brightness subsided a little and Fives' eyes stopped watering.  
"Less intense?" She asked, he nodded.   
The man spoke up,  
"Fives, I'm Kyle Katarn, another Jedi." Kyle had not introduced himself as "General Katarn." 

Another Jedi...and another name he didn't recognize, not that he claimed to know the name of every Jedi in the G.A.R, but this man was no child, and something in his voice suggested he was no healer either. So why was he here? Fives had a sudden and very unpleasant thought-there were rogue Jedi, Jedi who didn't follow the teachings of their peers; what were they called, Sith? His memory flashed back to the battle on Kamino where he and Echo had become ARC Troopers...there had been a Sith woman there, a woman who slaughtered many of his brothers.   
Was he being held by Sith? His panicked thoughts were interrupted by Kyle's gruff voice,

"Soldier, there's some things we need to catch you up on." The man spoke like a soldier, like an officer, and this made Fives relax, glad for something familiar. Kyle paused, he seemed to be having difficulty choosing the right words.  
"So. How much do you know about Carbonite freezing?" Fives was a little thrown by the switch of topic, but answered honestly.  
"Not much, Sir, just that it can place beings in stasis and suppress their life signs."  
"Correct. You and your comrades were placed in stasis, and were on your way to Lola Sayu when something intercepted and disabled your ship."  
Fives heard Jaden mutter sharply,  
"Kyle I don't think-"  
"What, you think we should keep stringing him along?"  
"No! But shouldn't we at least wait until he can see properly?"  
They were speaking about him like he wasn't in the room, and that made him suddenly furious. Fives grabbed the edge of the bed and sat up, the action making his head spin but he didn't fall back.

"Tell me."  
He spat, a pit in his stomach and his arms trembling from the effort of pulling himself upright. He turned his head towards the two other people and squinted, just able to make out their silhouettes.  
Kyle was silent for a moment, then he continued.

"Your ship was more than disabled; it was torn in half. The only reason you survived was thanks to the carbonite."  
Fives felt the pit in his stomach grow.  
"What happened." He asked quietly, Kyle sighed.  
"We don't know. It could have been an asteroid, or an enemy ship. All we do know, is that you were out there for a long time."  
There was a ringing in his ears as he asked,  
"A long time? What do you mean? How long?" How much of the War had he missed? How many brothers and civilians had died while they were trapped? Kyle was silent again, taking a large breath and exhaling sharply before he spoke again.

"Over forty years."


	5. Chapter 5

A ringing silence filled the air as Fives tried to process what Kyle had just told him. He couldn't believe it, it wasn't possible.

"No. That's ridiculous."  
Kyle's gruff voice was quiet as he responded,  
"Ridiculous, yes, but still true. Do you remember what year it was when you left on your mission?"  
Fives frowned, trying to remember through his swirling thoughts.  
"14:8"  
"it's 62:3 now. It's been forty-three years."

Fives leaned forward and rested his head in his hands.  
If forty-three years had gone by, the war with the Separatists would be over, there would be no need for soldiers; he would be obsolete. All his brothers...most would be dead and gone. A wave of profound loneliness washed over him. He felt dizzy and weak, his heart was racing and he could feel sweat beading on his forehead.  
A monitor began to beep. The metallic clank of the med droids feet grew louder as it came towards his bed.  
"The war...what happened? Did we win?" Fives asked, voice hoarse. Kyle's response was grim,  
"We won, but lost everything."

Fives couldn't even begin to puzzle out the cryptic response, barely heard Kyle say goodbye and leave, he was still trying to wrap his head around what had happened. The med droid told him to lay down, told him he needed to rest and injected something into his neck. Fives complied, desperate to get away from his own thoughts before they overwhelmed him. He was unconscious before his head even hit the pillow.

++++

Jaden was pacing outside the med centre door. Her lekku twitching anxiously. As soon as the door shut behind Kyle she asked,  
"How did he take it?" her voice laden with concern. Kyle sighed and ran his hand across his short beard.  
"Fairly well, considering. He was still a little out of it though, so I'm not sure how much he'll remember when he wakes up." The twi'lek woman sighed, frowning as she stared at closed door.  
"I hope he's going to be alright."  
"Me too kid, me too." Kyle gently placed a hand on Jaden's shoulder and led her down the hallway.  
"Let's go find Luke and give him an update."

They found Master Skywalker in the Comm center, in a holocall with his sister, Leia Organa-Solo and her husband, Han; just as Kyle predicted. All three looked distinctly agitated, and Han was saying,  
"Kids, Luke. These sickos snatched three kids right out of their homes. I thought you dealt with this Dark Side cult?"  
"I dealt with one cult Han, I was unaware there were more..." His voice was grim and he leaned on the edge of the holo-emitter.  
Kyle and Jaden exchanged worried looks, and Kyle walked forward to stand next to Luke.  
"Who's kidnapping children?"

Leia looked at Han and then began to explain. Three children had been kidnapped on Coruscant over the last two days, all three were Force sensitive and whoever had taken them had left Sith symbols behind. The Coruscant police were conducting investigations but getting nowhere, so Leia had called Luke for help. Luke asked Leia to send him the Sith symbols so they could start investigating right away. They said their goodbyes and Han and Leia signed off, Luke sighed heavily and turned to Kyle.  
"What happened with the Clone?"  
"His name is Fives, Master Skywalker, and he woke up, or I should say I woke him up." Jaden said, quickly explaining what had happened about the weird implant Leena had found and what happened after she removed it.

"Where is Leena anyway?" asked Kyle, the doctor had disappeared before Kyle got to the med center with Jaden and hadn't been heard from yet.  
"She's probably up to her elbows in research on that implant, I'll go find her." Jaden said, and turned to leave. She could tell that Master Skywalker was more concerned about the disappearing children at the moment and figured Kyle would be more helpful with that than she could.  
There was a soft blip from the computer next to the holo emitter and Luke immediately turned to it, his expression darkening as he looked at the information Leia had sent him about the kidnapping. She heard the two men speaking quietly as the door shut and she shivered.  
More Sith.  
Couldn't they just back off for a while? It had only been a few months since they defeated the Disciples of Ragnos and she'd had her fill of the dark force users. She pushed the memories away and tried to call Leena on her comm-she didn't answer, which was not a surprise. If Leena was working she sometimes forgot to even eat, let alone answer her comm. 

Jaden headed towards Leena's room, her thoughts drifting to Fives as she walked. She didn't know much about the Clone Wars; her early education had been fairly limited-history wasn't high on the list of things to learn for a slave. She reached the turbolift and pressed the up button, after the doors closed and it began to move Jaden pulled a datapad out of her belt pouch and did a quick search for more information, trying to find out more about the Clones specifically. They had all been patterned after one man, a bounty hunter named Jango Fett-she paused, Fett? Like Boba Fett? She had seen the mandalorian bounty hunter once in her former master's palace. It was not a pleasant memory; the man he had been hired to hunt did not have to be brought back alive, or even in one piece.  
The turbolift slowed and then stopped, the doors opening with a soft swish. Jaden stepped into the corridor and continued reading, the Clones had been bred to be the perfect soldiers; and lived up to expectations. Even against the overwhelming odds of fighting a droid army that could manufacture millions of droids in the time it took to create a thousand clones, the Grand Republic's army was prevailing. She frowned, wondering how much of the information here was truth and what was propaganda, the three Clones they had rescued were obviously in peak physical condition, and from what she had been able to sense in Fives' mind he was clever and dangerous, but still, those were ridiculous odds. She put the datapad away as she neared Leena's door, still puzzling over the handsome Clone. She knocked on her friend's door.  
"Leena?" She called,  
"You in there?"

There was a indistinct reply and the door opened, revealing an elegantly furnished suite that was currently covered in datapads, computers and flimsi sheets. Several holo-screens were projected onto a blank wall and there was Leena, sitting cross legged on the floor, her head-covering removed and tossed onto the carpet beside her. She didn't look up as Jaden approached and crouched next to her, but she did speak, sounding almost feverish with excitement.  
"Oh Jaden! I'm glad you're here, you won't believe what I found!" She handed three data pads and a pile flimsi sheets to the twi'lek, who took them and with one glance knew she had no idea what they said.

"Leena this is all technical jargon, what does it mean?"  
Leena finally looked away from the screen in front of her, which showed a complicated chart of a DNA strand, her green eyes shining.  
"This implant was so much more than a mind control device!"  
Jaden squinted at one of the datapads and then looked up,  
"Is...that a good thing?"  
"Yes! I mean, no, not really, but it's so interesting! One of the things it did was release a hormone that doubled the rate that these men aged, and it regulated their testosterone to optimize growth and muscular development but minimize competitiveness and aggressive tendencies. Amazing!" She was grinning hugely, Jaden raised her eyebrows.  
"Leena, this was used to control living, thinking beings. I wouldn't call that amazing. Creepy, yes, amazing, no."  
The Lorrdian woman looked crestfallen. Feeling a little bad about bursting her friends bubble, Jaden placed the items Leena had given her in a pile on the floor and then sat down with a sigh.  
"OK, so I have an update on Fives."  
"Is everything alright? When I left he had just fallen asleep, I have his vitals streaming right here," She pointed to one of the screens on the wall; it showed a steady heartbeat and a bunch of other readings Jaden couldn't identify. Leena continued,  
"He seems to be recovering rapidly. Before I left he was getting quite a bit of motion back."  
Jaden nodded,  
"Yeah, he was able to pull himself up and stay up when Kyle and I were there earlier, and he said his vision was coming back."  
She paused, an uncomfortable look on her face,  
"I feel like we're talking about a baby, this is weird."  
Leena gave a little smile,  
"Well, technically he is only 13."  
Jaden gave her an incredulous look.  
"Leena, there is no way that man is 13 years old! "  
Leena laughed,  
"You're right, physically and mentally he's about your age, 26, but chronologically; he's 13." She said with a frown,  
"I literally just told you that the implant doubled their aging, have you been listening at all?"  


Jaden rolled her eyes. Leena was one of those people who expected anyone listening to hang on her every word.  
"Anyway, there's more. Kyle decided to go ahead and tell Fives that he's been stuck in a carbonite coma for the last 43 years and he was not particularly tactful."  
Leena gasped, covering her mouth with her hand.  
"What!? Why would he have thought that was a good idea? He should have been allowed to recover more!"  
Jaden shrugged and sighed, voice heavy with concern.  
"I agree, he still seemed kind of out of it, so who knows how he's going to handle waking up again."  
Leena glanced back at her monitor linked to the med center.  
Five's pulse was steady and even.  
"The dose of anesthetic the droid gave him should allow him to rest for several hours at least, and now that I've figured out most of this little implants secrets, I think it might be a good time to remove one from another Clone."  
Jaden looked surprised,  
"Really? Already? I thought you wanted to take this as slow as possible."  
The other woman nodded, and reached over to pick up her head covering. She wrapped the cloth around her head and neck and secured it with an elegant silver pin that had been stuffed under a large pile of flimsi.

"I did, but the reason Fives woke up so soon is not because I removed the implant, remember? Hand me those please?"  
She gestured to the pile of datapads and flimsi she had handed to Jaden earlier, Jaden handed them to her and the two women stood up. Leena smoothed the front of her loose robes and then continued speaking,  
"We woke him up, from delving too deeply into his unconscious mind."  
They left Leena's room and started toward the turbolift back down towards the med center. They entered and Jaden pushed the down button as Leena spoke,  
"This time, I know what I'm looking for, and won't have to disturb the next man."  
Jaden made an affirmative noise and they lapsed into silence as the turbolift began its descent.

They reached the bottom floor and made their way to the med center, Jaden lost in her thoughts and Leena studying the notes on her datapad. Once there, Jaden went to sit next to Fives' bed; the Clone slept restlessly, his eyebrows knitted in a frown. She studied his face, wanting to reach out to him through the Force but also not wanting to wake him. She reached out gently, just barely touching the edge of his consciousness. There was a storm of confusion and fear, his subconscious obviously wrestling with the fact that his whole world had just been shattered. Jaden applied a soothing push of the Force, not much, just enough so that the storm in his mind quieted a little. The Twi'lek stood up, and watched as Fives' face relaxed. She then turned and walked quietly over to Leena, who was giving instructions to the med droid. Leena turned to her friend as she approached and spoke quietly.

"I'm going to remove the implant from CT-21-0408. Would you monitor him through the Force, just to make sure nothing untoward happens?"  
Jaden agreed, and sat cross legged at the foot of the bed next to Fives'. She began to meditate, making sure to keep her contact to a minimum. At the edges of CT-21-0408's consciousness she could feel the same disturbing command being repeated over and over. Even at a distance it made her shiver, and she wondered how anyone could stay sane with that cacophony playing every time you slept. There was a soft buzzing sound and Jaden knew that Leena had started in on the surgery. Just as the buzzing stopped the feeling of the Clone's mind changed from chaotic order to just chaos. Jaden used the same soothing Force push that she had used on Fives and the chaos relaxed, and then the Clone's whole mind just, withdrew and closed off. 

Surprised, Jaden pushed a little harder and was met with a wall of stubborn resistance. It was like an armored shell had been dropped around the man's subconscious. Not wanting to break into his mind, Jaden withdrew and opened her eyes. Leena was putting a bacta patch over the wound on the man's head, and glanced at Jaden when she felt her come out of her trance. She noticed the look on her friends face.  
"What happened?"  
Jaden slowly stood up and stretched her legs, cramped from sitting on the cold floor.  
"I just tried to calm him a little and he, I don't know, clammed up. It was weird, I didn't want to push too hard so I backed out."  
Leena looked surprised, and Jaden felt her reach out with the Force. Her expression changed; she looked almost impressed.  
"He's blocking us out. He must be very strong-willed."  
She severed the connection and opened her eyes, then stared at the unconscious Clone, her expression thoughtful. The med droid offered to take the small vial Leena held loosely and she handed it over, not really paying attention as the med droid clunked away. Jaden asked,  
"Well, is that good or bad?"  
Leena snapped her attention to her friend,  
"I'm not sure."  
Jaden gave her an incredulous look, and Leena gave a half-smile.  
"As much as I act like it sometimes, I don't know everything Jaden."  
The corners of Jaden's mouth twitched,  
"You've got that right; is there anything I can do?"  
Leena shook her head, and sighed,  
"Not that I can think of at the moment."  
Jaden nodded and stretched, she desperately wanted to help in some way, but couldn't think of anything.  
She gave a heavy sigh, and stretched again. She was tired, and didn't want to hang around if she might get in the way.

"Leena, I'm going to go take a quick nap. Call me if you need anything, ok?"  
Leena nodded and Jaden walked towards the door, pausing to glance at Fives again. He looked less distressed, but still far from peaceful. She sighed again and left to go lay down.  
Jaden trudged down the hallway leading from the medcenter, lost in thought. She nearly bumped into someone as she turned a corner.  
"Oh! Sorry Rosh, didn't see you there." She said; Rosh Penin was a fellow student and Jaden's close friend. He gave her a lopsided grin,  
"Hey Jaden!" He raised his eyebrows at her tired expression,  
"Wow, you look exhausted. Wanna grab something to eat?" Jaden hesitated, torn between wanting to sleep but also realizing that she was starving. Rosh gently elbowed her side and grinned again,  
"Come on, they've got sweet-sand cookies today!" Jaden grinned back; she had a weakness for sweets and Rosh new it.  
"Alright, let's go. I can nap later."  
"I'd rather eat than sleep any day." Rosh joked, and led the way to the cafeteria.

As they walked, he peppered her with questions about the lost ship and the Clones and especially the Jedi they found. Jaden answered as best she could; she still had a lot of questions herself. They reached the cafeteria and quickly made their selections; Jaden decided to forgo any real food and piled her plate high with sweet-sand cookies and other treats. Rosh took one look at her dish and cracked up; he didn't stop laughing until they sat at a table and Jaden shoved a cookie into his open mouth. He coughed, swallowed and took a quick swig of water.  
"Thanks for the cookie." He said, still grinning; they burst out laughing. The cafeteria was empty, the other students and teachers busy with training or away on missions, so their laughter echoed clearly in the large room. Rosh calmed down and got busy eating, pausing between bites to ask,  
"So, what do you think's going to happen now?" Jaden sighed, and put down the cookie she was about to eat.  
"I don't know Rosh, this is very strange." Rosh grunted in agreement,  
"The only thing I can focus on is making sure no-one else dies." she sighed.  
"A worthy goal, I'll toast to that." Rosh raised his glass in the air and Jaden followed suit, a smile curling at the edges of her lips as the cups edges clinked together. They both drank, Rosh tossing his back like a shot of Corellian whiskey and then thunking it down onto the table top. He wiped his mouth delicately with a napkin and then caught Jaden's mournful expression.

"But in all seriousness Jaden, I'll help anyway I can." The Twi'lek nodded,  
"Thanks Rosh." He certainly knew how to get on her nerves, but Jaden knew she could always count on him. Rosh sighed and stretched,  
"Alright, well I've gotta run." He checked his chrono and stood up, grabbing his plates and glass to take them back to the kitchen, a wide grin back on his face.  
"Zora's getting back from her mission soon and I'm gonna ask if she'd be up for some one on one training, if you know what I mean." He winked at Jaden and she rolled her eyes.  
"Have fun!" She called to his retreating figure and he waved before heading to the kitchen.

Jaden sighed, picked up another cookie and ate it in one bite. Standing, she wrapped the rest of the sweets in a napkin and tucked them into her belt pouch before heading to the kitchen herself. She handed them to the Padawan on cooking duty and then started back to her quarters.  
She really needed that nap.

++++

After the door had closed behind Jaden, Leena pulled up a chair and sat next to CT-21-0408. She peered closely at his face, trying to figure out what had happened. She decided to take a closer look and closed her eyes, slipping into a trance as she reached out with the Force. She felt the iron wall around his subconscious and gently touched it: it tightened at the contact and seemed to shrink.  
She stayed there for quite some time, maintaining their connection, simply allowing the Clone to become used to her presence. After a while, the wall began to relax, and Leena reached out again, stopping short of the edge.  
A hesitant tendril of conscious reached back.


	6. Awakening: Echo

Echo was standing in a white room, his arms crossed loosely over his chest. He had come across a text on mental defenses on one brief respite that he and Fives had been granted, and had read it cover to cover.   
He liked to be prepared.   
He wasn't paranoid. Everyone had heard about those troopers who had been taken over by mind-control worms on Geonosis; the thought had shaken him to the core. He had taken precautions, just in case.  
He was certainly glad he had.

He, Fives, Captain Rex, several other clones and Jedi Masters Skywalker and Kenobi had been on a mission. They had been frozen in Carbonite, then sent on their way to infiltrate the infamous Citadel. Echo was positive they had never made it there, or else there had been an accident. For he was awake-but not; lucid dreaming it was called. He was in control. Whatever had tried to touch his mind was still there, a distinct presence hovering at the edge of his senses. He couldn't tell what it wanted, but it didn't seem malicious...although it was hard to tell, since none of this was real. Echo felt the presence again, just there, not attempting to interact with him at all; just waiting. He decided to break the stalemate and reached out. Whatever was out there reached back, he pulled it in and snapped the walls back shut. A female figure suddenly appeared; everything about her was indistinct, like an out of focus holo. The figure looked down at herself and then around the room, taking in the bare walls and floor. Finally she looked at him.  
"This is fascinating!" She said,  
"How did you do this?"  
Echo frowned,  
"If you don't mind I'll be asking the questions."  
The woman clasped her hands in front of her and calmly asked,  
"What would you like to know?"

Echo's frown deepened. He hadn't expected whatever was invading his mind to be so...pleasant. He couldn't decide if this made him more or less suspicious,  
"Let's start with the basics, who or what are you?"  
"My name is Leena, and I am a Jedi healer." The woman gave a little bow as she responded.

Jedi; that would make sense, but Echo was far from ready to trust this, Leena. He squinted to try and see her face but her features remained obscure.  
"Why can't I see what you look like." He asked sharply.  
"They say that when you dream you can only see what you're familiar with; for example, if there are a crowd of bystanders in the background, each person would be someone you've seen before." She paused before continuing,  
"Since you've never seen me while you were awake..." she trailed off,  
"I can't see you in my dream." Echo finished the thought, and she nodded. Echo straightened up and walked in a circle around Leena, examining her closely. Her face seemed to change and blur as he looked; as if unable to settle on an appearance. He stopped his pacing and turned to face her. He didn't really care what she looked like, he wanted answers.  
"Alright, Leena. What happened to me? And where are my brothers?"  
The Jedi sighed softly, her shoulders slumping as she confirmed Echo's suspicions; there had been an accident, a bad one from the sound of her voice and he was still in stasis from the carbonite. She wouldn't give him a straight answer when he asked what kind of accident, or when he asked how long he'd been unconscious.  
Typical Jedi.

"And the others?" He demanded,  
"What about Fives? And Captain Rex?"   
And the other members of their infiltration squad, Commander Cody, Tycho-all the other Clones, where were they? He felt an unnatural sense of calm press on him, he shrugged it off.   
This was his space, no one could tell him how to feel in here.  
"Don't try any of those Force tricks, just answer me." Echo snarled, jabbing a finger into the Jedi's face. She looked surprised, and stepped away from him, hands coming up in a calming gesture. He crossed his arms again, tense as a coiled spring. Leena folded her hands in front of her, sighing softly before she spoke.  
"Your brothers are safe," Echo felt some of the tension bleed from his shoulders, but he could tell there was more coming.  
"But," she continued,  
"There was...we lost someone, CT-2368, when we tried to revive him." Echo could hear the grief in her voice.  
"Tycho..." He sighed softly and pressed the heel of his hand to his forehead.  
"That was his name?" Leena asked, Echo gave a grim nod.  
"I am sorry." Echo was mildly surprised at the genuine compassion in her voice, he thought Jedi were supposed to be removed from such emotions.

"Did know him well?"   
"We served together a few times before. He was a good soldier." He paused,  
"Have you been successful in reviving anyone else?" he asked.  
"Fives was accidentally woken up by a friend of mine after I removed his implant." Leena responded. Echo had been staring at the floor, but he snapped his head up and stared at the woman.  
"Implant?! What are you talking about?" He said sharply. The Jedi's eyes widened.  
"You didn't-you didn't know?" She gasped,  
"What implant - what are you talking about?" Echo demanded,  
The woman let out a mournful sigh,  
"I'm so sorry. I thought you knew..." She straightened up, composed herself, and then began speaking in a tone that reminded Echo of the doctors on Kamino.  
"Upon closer inspection of you and your brothers, I located a small, partially organic chip implanted into your frontal lobe." Echo felt a shiver run down his spine.  
"What...was this implant for?" he asked. Leena began to pace, crossing her arms as she moved.  
"Initially, I had no idea what it did. I approached Fives' mind through the Force and discovered that there seemed to be some sort of...nightmare." Echo felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand up. He knew exactly what she was talking about; but had never put it into words. All his brothers felt it, he knew it, had seen them wake with fear in their eyes.   
No Clone slept peacefully.   
Leena was still talking,

"I delved deeper into his subconscious, and I could feel something...foreign. It was very disturbing." She glanced at Echo, he didn't respond, but he could see the compassion in her eyes as she continued,  
"After I removed the implant from Fives, I was able to delve further into its secrets, what I found was no less disturbing." Echo listened blankly as the Jedi detailed just what the terrifying thing in his brain did.   
The white room was silent after Leena had finished her explanation. She stood still, her hands folded again and a strange expression on her indistinct face. Was it pity? He hoped not, that was the last thing he wanted.  
"So...what happened to Fives?" Leena smiled a little smile, an expression that reminded him strongly of General Shaak Ti, and replied  
"He is awake, and resting in our healing center," her smile widened,  
"He's making a remarkably fast recovery, considering the situation."  
Echo felt his shoulders relax and a small sigh escaped his lips. There was silence between them, and Echo was suddenly reminded of his training on Kamino; When he and Fives had come to the General Ti to request a squad transfer.   
She had shot them down, saying they were right where they needed to be, and Echo was forever grateful that she had. If not for that refusal, crushingly disappointing at the time, he and Fives would never have made it into the 501st, or have become ARC Troopers- which Echo considered to be his greatest achievement. 

He wondered about Fives, if everything Leena had said was true then his brother was close, and finally free from the nightmare that plagued them...but he couldn't be sure, not unless he heard it from Fives himself. The whole situation just seemed...off; he didn't like it one bit.  
He let out another sigh and stood straight, crossing his arms behind him as he moved. Leena's smile widened as she noticed him refocus. Echo moved around until he was standing just to her left, it was unsettling that he couldn't make out her face. He didn't look at her when he said,  
"I don't know if I believe you and until I hear from someone I know and trust, I'm afraid we have nothing left to discuss."  
With that, he ejected her from his mind.

++++

Leena's eyes popped open, thoroughly shocked by the abruptly severed connection. She sat still for a long moment, regaining her composure.  
"Fascinating..." She murmured, staring intently at Echo's sleeping face. She hesitated, wanting to reach out again, convince him to fully wake up so she could help him; she stopped, thinking back on their conversation.  
Someone he knew and trusted...perhaps...Leena looked over at the other sleeping clones. Fives' face was set in a deep frown.   
Maybe...she stood and slowly walked the short distance to Fives' bed. She checked the holo chart above him, making sure everything was normal; his heartbeat was slightly elevated, but nothing out of the ordinary. She checked back at the notes she had made earlier, the anesthetic the medical droid had administered would wear off shortly. She hesitated again; now that she had an idea on how to get Echo to trust her, she wanted to act on it right away. Leena began to pace, wrestling with her excitement and her desire to take things slowly and methodically.  
Her caution won out, as usual, and she decided to spend the remaining time before Fives' anesthesia wore off by going over her notes on the situation again. 

Jaden returned to the med centre a short time later; she did not look particularly well rested. She paused in front of the unconscious clone before walking over to join Leena at her desk. Leena put down her data pad and gave Jaden a half smile.  
"I take it you didn't get that nap?" She asked. Jaden let out a small groan and stretched.  
"No, no I did. I just...didn't sleep well." She crossed her arms and grimaced,  
"I couldn't stop thinking about all..."she paused and gestured to the unconscious people around them,  
"of this." she finished, her voice quiet.   
Leaning her elbows on her desk, Leena interlaced her fingers and rested her chin on her hands. She pursed her lips.  
"It's not exactly easy to put out of your mind."   
The two women were silent for a moment. Then Leena spoke up,  
"I made contact with Echo, ah, CT-21-0408." Jaden whipped her head around.  
"You did?! What happened?" She gasped.  
"Well," Leena began,  
"He told me he didn't believe me, and that he wouldn't unless he heard from Fives himself, then he severed the contact." Jaden's eyebrows went up in surprise, and she sat on the edge of Leena's desk.  
"Unless the clones have some sort of telepathy then we may be out of luck." she remarked. Leena moved a carefully stacked pile of data chits away from Jaden's perch.  
"I've been thinking about that, I would like to try and connect with both of them through the Force." Leena responded. Jaden reached over, picked up a small trinket and began to idly toss it between her hands.  
"Contact both of them? And then what?" She remarked as she tossed the silver object high into the air and then caught it without looking. Leena's eyes never left the small sculpture (a gift from her mother) as it flipped through the air. She bit her lip, before saying,  
"I want to see if I can get them to communicate with each other."  
"I don't know if that's even possible Leena." Jaden said with a frown, tossing the sculpture so high it disappeared momentarily in the bright lights of the med centre. She caught it just before it hit the ground. Leena suppressed a small sigh of relief before she replied,

"I'd still like to try, I've been unable to find any information about such a thing but I think-" a soft blip from her monitor caught her attention. Jaden set the trinket back on the desk and leaned over.  
"What's that for?" Jaden asked, Leena was already up and moving, heading towards Fives' bed.  
"I set an alarm for when Fives' anesthesia would wear off. He should be coming around now." She checked the holographic display on the screen. Jaden followed and stood at the foot of the clones bed. She waited until Leena looked away from the screen before asking,  
"How is he?" Leena looked over her shoulder and smiled,  
"He's recovering remarkably well." She went back to the chart. Jaden sucked her teeth impatiently,  
"So, do we wait until he wakes up? Or-" Fives jolted upright with a yell, causing both Jaden and Leena to jump. The clone was panting and wide eyed, he groaned and leaned forward, squeezing his eyes shut and clutching his head in his hands.  
"Ugh...what, where am I?" He slowly straightened up, blinking and squinting, his face twisted in a grimace.

++++

Fives' head was pounding, his vision blurry and his mouth was dry. He shook his head, blinking furiously to try and clear his vision.  
"Fives?"  
He opened his eyes and looked to the side. A woman draped head to toe in brown robes was standing there. She was holding a data pad and looking at him closely.  
"Y-yes?" He said, squinting to try and make out the woman's features. Her long, elegant face was framed in dark brown fabric, and her slanted green eyes were warm and inviting. She smiled when she noticed he was studying her face.  
"You can see me clearly? I'm Leena, do you remember speaking to me before?" Fives nodded and sat up a little straighter.  
"Yes...you're a doctor, a Jedi." He looked at her again, yes there was a long handled lightsaber hanging from her belt. Fives looked around the room, definitely a med centre, but the machinery looked...different. As he was scanning the room he caught the eye of a pale purple Twi'Lek woman standing near the foot of his bed. She grinned at him, the corners of her golden eyes crinkling with the expression. He gave a small smile back, saying  
"You must be-"  
"Jaden." The Twi'Lek finished.   
She had very high cheekbones and a pointed chin; Fives took note of the two lightsabers hanging from her black belt.  
"How are you feeling?" She asked. Fives groaned softly and rubbed the back of his neck.  
"I've felt better." He replied, taking another look around the room as he did so. He spotted something that made his gut clench.  
"Echo!"  
His brother was stretched out on a bed just behind Leena. Fives cast his eyes quickly around the rest of the room and spotted Rex on his other side, and behind Jaden, two more beds. One had a sheet draped across its occupant, and in the other was Commander Tano.

"Where are the others?" He asked Leena, trying to hide the hint of panic in his voice. Jaden and Leena looked at each other; both of their faces looked worried.  
"What?" He asked, that feeling of things being 'wrong' pressed at the back of his mind.  
"Fives..."Jaden began,  
"Do...you remember the conversation you had with a Jedi named Kyle Katarn earlier?" Fives frowned deeply,  
"Kyle Katarn? Who is..." He paused, and then let out a gasp as it all came flooding back.   
The mission to Lola Sayu had been a failure, it had never even started. The accident. A forty-three year time loss. His brothers...He held his head in his hands.  
That was why everything felt so wrong.  
He wasn't only in the wrong place,  
He was in the wrong time.  
The revelation shook him to the core. He was barely aware of the two women in the room with him until Leena softly cleared her throat. He looked up at her, not even bothering to mask his pained expression.  
"How...how are Echo and Rex, and Commander Tano?" He asked, needing to hear something other than his own thoughts.  
Jaden had lost her smile, but her expression lightened as she spoke,

"According to Leena, they're doing really well." Fives felt a little of the tension in his shoulders bleed away, Leena placed her data pad down and walked over to join Jaden at the foot of the bed.  
"I even managed to speak with Echo through the Force," she said. Fives looked over at his unconscious best friend, wanting to go over and see him more closely, Fives braced himself and swung his legs out and over the edge of the bed. Leena took a step forward,  
"Do you need help?" She asked, her voice tinged with worry. Fives shook his head, determined to do something to for himself. He carefully placed one foot, then the other on the med centre floor and attempted to stand, nearly collapsing as he tested his full weight.

This weakness was driving him mad.  
He gritted his teeth as Leena grabbed him under the arm to try and help him upright.  
"Thank...you." He mumbled as she helped him stand straight. He wobbled for a moment, gripping the edge of the bed as he fought to regain his balance.  
"Please sit down." Leena asked, attempting to gently push him back onto the bed. Fives held his ground.  
"I'd rather not." He snapped, sounding angrier than he'd meant to. Leena released her grip on his shoulder and took a step back.  
"Can you stand unaided?" She asked. Fives cautiously let go of the bed frame; he was unsteady, but didn't fall. He took another moment to steady himself and then turned to Leena.  
"What did Echo say?" He asked, desperate for any sort of contact with his life. Leena peered at him closely, and seemed to sense the determination in him.   
"Actually, I need your help Fives."  
Fives frowned,  
"My help?" he asked. Leena's eyebrows knitted together.  
"Yes," She replied,  
"When I spoke to Echo he refused to believe anything I said. He told me he wouldn't believe a word of it unless he heard it from you."  
A smile tugged at the corner of Fives' mouth; that was just like Echo, overly cautious even when unconscious.  
'Well, how can I talk to him?" He asked.  
"You wouldn't happen to have some sort of telepathic connection, would you?" Jaden asked with a sarcastic grin.  
"Unfortunately no, that wasn't something the Kaminoans thought to add in. Too bad, would have been handy." Fives replied.  
"Who are the Kaminoans?" Jaden said, her expression puzzled. Fives winced, the strangeness of the situation burning in the back of his throat. He tried not to let his memories flashback to everything he'd lost.  
"The Kaminoans were the species that, well, designed us. The clones I mean." He said.

It felt very strange, he'd never had to explain his origins before. Jaden looked vaguely uncomfortable, the tips of her head tails curling slightly.  
"Right..." She muttered.  
Fives frowned, he had been under the impression that cloning was a fairly common practice in the Republic; rarely on the scale of the GAR, but not so out of place that it would make someone as uncomfortable as Jaden obviously was. He changed the subject; he had a lot of catching up to do, better to focus on the task at hand. He turned to face Leena and then asked,  
"So, contacting Echo. How do we go about that?" Leena and Jaden looked at each other, faces apprehensive, then Leena said,  
"I was hoping to try and...connect your minds through the Force."  
"We're not positive it'll work." Jaden added quickly. Fives didn't care; he was used to long odds. He was determined to do whatever it took to talk to Echo,  
"What do I need to do?" He asked.  
Leena looked thoughtful,  
"As far as I know, all you'll have to do is sit and clear your mind." she said.  
"Can we try it now?" He asked, Leena hesitated, studying him closely.  
"Do you feel up to it? It could cause some mental strain, and after everything that's happened-" Fives cut her off,  
"I'm willing to risk it." He said flatly.

They were treating him like he was some precious object; it was decidedly frustrating. He was an ARC Trooper.   
He was up for anything.   
Jaden hurried to the back of the room and came back with a small metal chair.  
"Here." She said, setting it down next to Echo's bed. Fives gauged the distance warily, remembering how much of a struggle it had been just to get out of bed. It wasn't far, but he really didn't want to fall again. Leena seemed to sense his hesitation,  
"We can wait a while..." she said quietly. Fives shook his head,  
"No. I'm not leaving him like that any longer." he said.  
He steeled himself and slowly, carefully took a step forward. He wobbled, and the weakness in his knees set his teeth on edge, but he didn't fall. He took another step, then another and finally sat, exhausted, in the chair.   
His legs were shaking. Fives looked down at his brother's face. Echo looked surprisingly peaceful; If it wasn't for the steady blip of his heart beat on the monitor, Fives would have thought he was dead.  
Leena moved so she was standing next to him, she caught his eye and smiled. Fives returned her smile with a weak one of his own, his knees trembling from the effort of walking a few feet.


	7. Chapter 7

Everything was wrong, and all Fives wanted to do was talk to Echo; he ached for something familiar. Leena sat on the floor and crossed her legs, eyes closing as she slipped into her Force Trance. Jaden hovered near the foot of the bed, golden eyes flicking back and forth between the three of them. She noticed him staring at her and asked,  
"Do you feel anything?" He gave a little shrug, not sure what he should be feeling.  
"Try closing your eyes, and emptying your mind." Jaden suggested, Fives closed his eyes, and attempted to clear his mind.

Which was a lot harder than he had thought.   
He tried to focus on nothing, which was counterproductive as then all he could think about was not thinking about anything. Suddenly he felt something, a gentle nudge at his consciousness. He tried to connect with it, but didn't know how. It was like trying to catch a runaway Nuna. Every time he made contact, it slipped away. After a while, he got frustrated and cracked open an eyelid to look around. Leena was still sitting, face as still as stone, he could see Jaden pacing at the edge of his vision. She noticed him looking and stepped over to him, moving quietly so as not to disturb Leena. She leaned close and whispered,  
"Anything?"  
He shook his head. Jaden's thin face twisted into a frown, she was quiet for a moment then whispered,  
"Try thinking about Echo."

Fives closed his eye and tried to refocus, thinking back to Rishi and the first real mission he and Echo had been assigned. He recalled that moment before things went to hell, Hevy mocking Echo for his love of Reg manuals. A smile quirked the edge of his mouth, and he took a deep breath to try and relax; as he did he caught a sharp, sweet scent that could only be Jaden's perfume.   
It was a very appealing smell, and he found himself taking another deep breath to smell it again. He realized suddenly that he had never been this close to a woman before. Well, he had, but only in combat situations, and only with Jedi. He wondered if General Secura or General Ti had worn perfume; it seemed like an indulgence, and Jedi weren't big on indulgences.   
He heard Jaden sigh softly and realized that he had gotten way off track. She straightened up and Fives felt a blush creep up the back of his neck, unsure if she had been aware of his thoughts and really hoping she hadn't.  
He popped his eyes open as he heard Leena speak,  
"No luck." She said with a heavy sigh. Fives turned to face her as she got to her feet.  
"It was worth a try." Jaden offered, her voice tinged with disappointment. Leena nodded in response and then asked,  
"Did you feel anything Fives? Any sort of connection?"  
"There was something," he replied, "But I couldn't quite reach it." Leena sighed again, her small shoulders slumped in disappointment.   
Fives looked from her to Echo and back again,   
"Is there anything else we can try?" He asked  
Jaden and Leena looked at each other briefly, then Jaden spoke up,  
"We could always ask Tionne?"

++++

Luke was back in the information center at the Jedi Temple, searching through piles of old flimsi and even some ancient books; most of which had been collected by he and Tionne Solusar over the last ten years. He was searching for any information on the Sith symbol Leia had sent him. He hadn't recognized it initially, but the more he thought about it, the more familiar it seemed. He paused to pull out the holo of the symbol; a nine pointed star with two crossed blades beneath it. Luke leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes, searching his memory for where he had seen the mysterious symbol before; It hadn't been long ago...Korriban. Of course, he had seen it carved into one of the ancient Sith tombs in the Valley of the Dark Lords.   
He stood up and located a thick volume bound in plain black leather; the tome was an ancient book of Sith knowledge, and while much of the information it held was unreadable, there was still enough to make it very valuable. Luke cautiously opened the book, it's very pages were imbued with the malevolence of the ancient Sith, just opening the cover was enough to send a chill down his spine. He flipped through the pages slowly.

Few other people were in the information center; Tionne sat behind a low, round table, strumming a gentle tune on her Viol. She sang along, although too softly for Luke to hear the lyrics. He let the rhythm of the music relax him, and let the Force guide him to what he was looking for. A few moments later, the pages opened to reveal a two-page spread of symbols. Many were obscured, either with rips or stains, but there, near the top left corner and rather small, was the symbol he was looking for. Luke exhaled slowly, focusing on the tiny print; the caption was scrawled in an ancient dialect of basic, he could barely make it out. Carefully marking the page, Luke made his way across the large room, weaving through tall shelves and computer terminals until he reached Tionne. Luke knew she was lost in her music and the Force, but the pale woman opened her opalescent eyes as he drew near. She offered him a serene smile and gently laid her instrument on the table in front of her.

"Hello, Master Skywalker. What can I help you with today?" She asked.   
Luke returned her smile with one of his own, and placed the ancient book on the table, opening it to the page he had marked before. He pointed to the caption beneath the nine pointed star and crossed swords.  
"Hello Tionne, I was wondering if you could make out what this text says? I can't seem to figure it out." Tionne leaned forward, brushing long silver hair behind her ears as she bent to focus. Her eyebrows creased in a frown as she read, her expression darkening further as she looked back to Luke.  
"This...is the symbol of Darth Ruin's personal guard." Tionne said, she pursed her lips.  
"Darth Ruin...I believe I have more information on him if you'd like to see it." she asked Luke, who nodded and took a step back so Tionne could get up from her chair. As the woman made her way to another shelf, Luke turned the book to face him and ran a finger over the symbol. Tionne returned a moment later, holding a large data pad in her slender hands. She handed it to Luke and said,  
"Here is what I've managed to compile so far, it's not much, but I hope it helps."  
"Thank you Tionne." Luke murmured, quickly scanning the data pad. There was a short paragraph, describing how Darth Ruin had started as a Jedi master; he had splintered from the Jedi, taking about fifty followers with him to rebuild the Sith Empire.   
His reign had not lasted long, after he and his followers initiated a war against the Jedi and Galactic Republic, Ruin was killed by his followers. Luke looked back to Tionne and handed her the data pad.

"Why are you researching this particular symbol Luke?" She asked, her voice wary. Luke sighed, he pulled the small holo projector out of his pocket again and activated it, the projection of the same symbol reflected harshly in Tionne's pale eyes.  
"Because it has made three appearances in the last few days on Coruscant, in the homes of kidnapped children. Leia contacted me this morning about it." He said grimly. Tionne let out a soft gasp, her voice quiet as she said,  
"Do you think it's the work of another Sith cult?" She asked. Luke's expression darkened, he deactivated the holo and slowly returned it to his pocket.  
"I'd like to say no, but the Force is telling me otherwise." He replied softly. Tionne and Luke stood in silence for a moment, then abruptly Luke picked up the book and snapped it closed, the sound echoing surprisingly loud in the quiet room.  
"Thank you again Tionne. I'm going to be leaving the temple for a few days, I need to go to Coruscant and see this first hand. Tell the other teachers will you?" Luke said. Tionne nodded, calling  
"May the Force be with you, Luke." as he left the information center.


	8. Chapter 8

Fives was out of the med center, moving down a long stone hallway on a pair of crutches Leena had provided, the Twi'lek Jedi Jaden keeping pace alongside him. The doctor had insisted on a few more pokes and prods before she let him leave, much to his irritation, but Fives was glad to be up and moving.   
Albeit very, very slowly. He had to stop every few feet and catch his breath, although he tried to mask this by adjusting the crutches under his arms every time he stopped.

Fives was more self-conscious than he'd ever been in his whole life. His extensive training had prepared him for every battle field situation imaginable, but no training in the Galaxy could have prepared him for this. He stopped again, adjusted the crutches and cast a quick glance at his companion. Jaden seemed to be lost in thought, her face set in a serious expression. Fives noticed that she had freckles across her nose and cheeks, and a small scar beneath her lower lip. She felt his eyes on her and looked up with a smile. Fives blushed, then set off again, a little too quickly, one of the crutches slipped slightly on the smooth floor and he wobbled. Jaden caught his elbow as he steadied himself.  
"Sorry, stone floors don't mix well with crutches." He muttered, taking another, slower step forward. Jaden let go of his arm and said with a grin,  
"Hey, for someone who was a glorified ice cube less than twenty-four hours ago, you're doing pretty well." Fives chuckled and they continued on for a while, his confidence growing a little with every step. He could still feel his limbs trembling with the effort, but he was conscious, he was moving and hopefully would be able to help Echo soon. He paused again, leaning on the crutches and turning toward Jaden.

"So...do you really think this Tionne will have another idea on how to talk to Echo?" He asked. Jaden crossed her arms and shrugged,   
"If anyone knows anything about obscure Force techniques, it'll be Tionne. She's the chief historian here, and the reason we know anything about the Jedi of the Old Republic at all." Fives frowned,  
"Can't you just contact the Jedi on Coruscant? The archives there are full of information, the best in the galaxy." He said. Jaden bit her lip, her expression was a little sad.  
"I'm sure they did, but...there are no Jedi on Coruscant. The temple was...destroyed a long time ago." She said quietly.   
Fives felt his jaw drop.  
"What...destroyed?! How? Where are the other Jedi?"   
Jaden winced, she shifted her weight from foot to foot, she looked very uncomfortable as she answered,  
"I don't know much about history...but as far as I know, almost all the Jedi were wiped out and the temple destroyed when the Clone Wars ended..." She trailed off and looked at him.   
Fives stared back, he couldn't believe it.  
"Wiped out...but, how could they have been?"   
The Jedi were incredible warriors, he had seen them in battle, fought alongside them, watched General Skywalker take out a battalion of battle droids all by himself. And there were thousands of Jedi. Fives couldn't comprehend the idea that they had all been destroyed. It was ridiculous. Jaden shrugged again,  
"Like I said, I don't know a lot about history, I only joined the Jedi about a year ago. Tionne might be able to answer your questions though..." She trailed off as she caught Fives' expression,  
"What?"   
"I thought Jedi trained their whole lives?" Fives asked, unable to keep the confusion out of his voice.  
"Maybe they used to. Not anymore though...come on, the information center's just ahead." Jaden said.   
She started walking again, Fives took a moment to gather his swirling thoughts before following after her.

Chapter 6

At the end of the long hallway, there was a large set of double doors that were partially ajar. Fives could hear gentle music emanating from inside. Upon reaching the doors, Jaden stepped forward and pushed them open, standing with her back against the door so Fives could hop through. Once inside, the Twi'lek stepped around him and held up a hand for him to stop. She glanced around the room, obviously looking for something. The music continued, a quiet melody that made Fives feel sad and joyful all at once; he had never heard this particular song before, but something about it resonated very strongly within him, a bittersweet ache deep in his soul.   
Fives was jolted out of his reverie when he realized that Jaden had started moving ahead without him, he hobbled along after her. As they walked, Fives noted the easy grace of Jaden's stride; she moved confidently, and he couldn't help but notice her well-toned back and legs...and how very tight her pants were.   
The music was still playing, growing slightly clearer as the pair made their way through neatly stocked shelves and computer terminals. Fives managed to pull his eyes away from Jaden's rear to take a better look at his surroundings.

The tall stone ceiling was illuminated by lights every few feet and sloped down dramatically towards the far wall; the floors and walls were also stone, the wall made up of huge blocks that were wider than Fives was tall.   
It all looked ancient.  
He suddenly realized he had no idea where this place was in the Galaxy; what planet was this? Fives was just about to ask Jaden when she spoke,  
"Tionne?" she said, stopping in front of a low table. Fives took a step to the side so he could see clearly. This is where the music had been coming from; a slim woman with long silver hair was reclining in a cushioned chair, gently strumming a stringed instrument Fives didn't know the name of. In response to Jaden's voice, the woman-who was obviously Tionne-opened her eyes. They were pearly white, Fives wondered if she might be blind, and then wondered if she were another Jedi, and would it matter if a Jedi was blind? Could they 'see' with the Force? His thoughts were interrupted as Tionne spoke,  
"Jaden, hello! Long time no see," She caught sight of Fives and gave him a friendly smile,

"I'm guessing you must be one of our mysterious guests, I am Tionne Solusar, resident Historian. It's an honour to meet someone who's been through such troubles." Tionne gave a little bow. Fives was very taken aback, he leaned heavily on one crutch and rubbed awkwardly at the back of his neck.  
"Uh, I’m Fives, thank you...ma'am." He didn't really know what to say, and now Tionne was studying him intensely with her pale eyes. He leaned away from her, unsure of what to do or say next. Luckily, Jaden spoke up quickly,  
"Tionne, we've got a serious problem on our hands, do you think you could help?" Tionne turned her intense gaze onto Jaden, much to Fives' relief. She raised an eyebrow,  
"Of course Jaden, what do you need?"   
Jaden sighed heavily and chewed her lip for a moment, it looked like she was trying to decide on the best way to explain what was going on. Fives spoke up instead,  
"Ma'am, uh, Tionne, we were wondering if you knew of any way to connect three minds through the Force." Tionne looked back to him, cocking her head to the side.  
"Connect three minds...please, explain the situation to me." Fives looked to Jaden, who caught his eye and gave him the small, slightly sad smile, before turning to Tionne and launching into a brief record of the events of the past day and a half. While she was speaking, Tionne had placed her instrument on the table and had stood up. She stood still, hand resting lightly on her chin as she listened to Jaden finish her story.

"So Leena tried using herself as an anchor to connect their minds, but it didn't work." The Twi'lek's voice softened as she finished her sentence, Fives shifted his weight and added,  
"I was able to feel some sort of connection, I guess, but I couldn't grab hold of it, it kept slipping away from me." For a split second, he wondered if he was the reason that their attempt to contact Echo had failed-had he been too distracted? The thought gnawed at him as Tionne said,  
"A difficult situation...but not without hope. I have heard a few rumours lately that could be of interest, although it will take me a few hours to get the information I'll need, if you could come back then I should have something to give you."  
“Thanks Tionne, we’ll be back later then.” Jaden said, giving Tionne a quick hug before turning to go. Fives murmured a thank you of his own and started to hobble after Jaden, careful not to catch his crutches on the edge of the table as he turned.

“A moment, Fives? I have something to give you, it’s not much, but I hope it may help you acclimate a little.” Tionne said with a sweet smile. She held out a small datapad, Fives looked at her, and then slowly reached out to take the gift. He turned it over in his hand, then pressed the activator switch. A list of dates popped up, starting about forty years ago; each one blinked to indicate there was more information to be seen once a date was selected.   
He stared at the screen for a long moment.  
“I’m afraid it’s far from comprehensive, but I was able to gather a good overview of politics and the major events that have happened while you were…well, out of commission.” Tionne said with a quiet, sad smile. Fives looked up from the screen and asked,  
“Why...when did you do this?” He was confused, that was a lot of information to compile, and as far as he knew, he and the others had only been here-wherever that was-for a day or so. Not to mention she must had more important things to do; she was a Jedi after all. The question obviously took the woman by surprise, her pale eyebrows practically vanished under her fringe.

“Why would I do something to help you?" She asked, her voice mildly concerned. Fives looked back to the datapad and selected the first date. A long list of information popped up, names and dates along with brief explanations of their relevance to the greater galaxy. He scrolled through the list for a moment, lips pressed together in a thin line. There was so much he had missed...Fives tightened his jaw and looked back to Tionne, who was watching him closely. He swallowed and then said,  
"Thank you...Tionne." Her expression was comforting as she placed a gentle hand on his shoulder,  
"I doubt there is anything I could say that would help ease your mind, but if you have any questions or need anything, please don't hesitate to ask." She said. Fives nodded slowly. He had a million and one questions, he didn't even know where to start. Tionne turned to Jaden, who had been standing off to the side, and said,  
"Jaden, why don't you give Fives a tour? I should be finished after you've gotten through the lower levels of the temple." Jaden perked up on hearing her name and nodded enthusiastically,  
"Good idea! Ready to go Fives?" Her cheerful tone sounded a little forced. Fives glanced back towards Tionne, and then looked at Jaden and said,  
"Yeah, let's go."   
He sighed, then tucked the data pad into a pouch on his belt. 

He didn't want a tour, all he wanted to do was sit and think. Tionne had turned back to her chair and picked up her instrument before sitting back down. Her strange eyes were closed, and she let her fingers glide across the strings, plucking out a gentle melody. The pair turned and left the information center, Tionne's song ushering them out of the double doors and back out into the hallway. Once outside, Jaden pulled the heavy doors closed, muffling the music completely. She leaned back against the wall, crossing her arms and fixing Fives with an appraising look. Fives frowned, what was this about? The Twi'lek's golden eyes were inscrutable, she said nothing for a long moment.

"How about we skip the tour, get some food and sit down instead." She said finally. Fives let out a huge sigh and slumped forward on the crutches.  
"Yes, thank the stars." He groaned. Jaden's grim expression cracked into a half smile and she pushed herself off the wall, saying,  
"Great, follow me." She started off down the hall, slowing her pace to match his as the turned left down a fork in the hallway. As they walked, Jaden spoke up,  
"So, I don't know as much about anything as Tionne does, but what she said goes for me too, you know, I'll try and help to make things easier for you if I can, not that I have any personal experience with, well, time travel I guess..." she trailed off, shook her head, and then continued,  
"Well, you know what I mean." She said with an awkward smile.   
Fives smiled back,  
"Actually, I do have a few questions-" Jaden cut him off with a snort of laughter,  
"Just a few?"  
Fives grinned, he already like Jaden; she was easy to talk to, and seemed more relaxed than the other Jedi he had met here so far.  
"Well, a few you might be able to answer." He laughed at the indignant look on her face and then continued,  
"I'm just kidding. For starters, where are we exactly? What planet is this temple on? And how long have I been here?" Jaden's expression had changed from miffed to a broad smile as he spoke, she sounded amused as she answered,  
"Glad you being a Clone-cicle didn't rob you of a sense of humour. As for where we are, this planet is Yavin four, which is in the Outer Rim. Oh, take a right here," Fives turned down the right hand side of a passageway and continued to hobble along, chuckling over 'Clone-cicle' as Jaden continued to talk.

"Kyle and I, you remember Kyle I'm sure, we rescued you and the others from an asteroid belt almost two days ago."  
"An asteroid belt? What were you doing out there?" Fives asked,  
"Well, we were investigating a rumour about an old Imperial base in a hollowed out asteroid, we didn't find anything, it had been abandoned for quite a while." Fives frowned, and asked,  
"An Imperial base? What empire are you referring to?" Jaden winced,  
"Ohhkay, this is going to be harder to explain-" she stopped speaking and they both looked up as someone called Jaden's name from up ahead. 

A young man was standing in an arched doorway leading to a large cafeteria, Fives could see an assortment of long, low tables and benches behind him. The man was grinning, he had a shock of black hair that was shaved at the sides and bright brown eyes that widened as soon as he saw Fives. Jaden waved and walked over to him, Fives trailing along behind her.  
"Hey Rosh," She turned to face Fives as he drew level with them, gesturing to the young man as she said,  
"Fives, this is Rosh Penin, Rosh this is Fives." Rosh's face was a mixture of excitement and confusion as he reached out to take Fives' hand in an exuberant handshake.  
"Wow hey! You must be one of the Clone soldiers Jaden and Kyle rescued! I didn't think you'd be up and around for a while. Nice to meet you." He finished with a grin. Fives smiled back,  
"Same to you." Rosh was looking at him closely, then he exclaimed,  
"That's a pretty impressive kit you've got on, I bet you've got some great stories to tell!" Fives blinked, he had almost forgotten he was still wearing his armour; it was like a second skin at this point. Jaden grimaced and smacked herself lightly on the forehead, saying,  
"By the Force I didn't even think to ask if you wanted something more comfortable to wear, sorry." Fives shook his head,  
"Honestly, I'm more comfortable in this than I would be in anything else, but thanks anyway."   
Jaden gave him a once over, quirking an eyebrow,  
"Really?"   
When Fives nodded she shrugged and then gestured to the open doorway. Rosh hopped to the side to let them through,  
"Oh man, if I didn't have to go meet with Kyle in a minute I'd love to sit and chat with you guys. I'll catch you later though, nice to meet you Fives!" With a wave Rosh had dashed down the hallway the way they had come. Jaden waved back and then turned back to Fives. She gave an exaggerated bow and said,  
"Shall we?" Fives raised an eyebrow and headed through the door.

The cafeteria was another large room with a stone ceiling and walls, much like the information center. However, the ceiling here was peppered with skylights, the bright sun streamed through the ancient stones and filled the room with a warm glow. Fives craned his neck to take in the expanse; some type of plant had grown down through one of the openings and had crawled between the stones, trailing halfway down the far wall and curling around one of the long, low windows set deep into the stone. The sound of wildlife could be heard faintly, a pleasant mix of chirping and the rustling of leaves. Outside, through the window, there was some sort of training ground. Fives could make out a few figures practicing combat, and another who appeared to be meditating, floating with their legs crossed, a foot off of the ground. Jaden led them to a table near the wall with the windows, and waited for him to lever himself down onto the bench before sitting down next to him.   
Fives sighed heavily, grateful to be off his aching legs for a while. He rested the crutches against the edge of the table and looked to Jaden. She smiled and then stood up,  
"Any idea on what you want to eat?" She asked. Fives shrugged, his stomach growled loudly.  
Jaden laughed,  
"An eloquent response, tell you what, I'll just grab you a little of everything." She said brightly. Fives frowned and reached for his crutches,  
"I can get it myself-" He started but Jaden cut him off, crossing her arms and saying,  
"I know you can, but it'd probably be better if you rest for a second, and anyway that data pad Tionne gave you will do a better job about answering your question about the Empire than I could." She smiled.   
Fives relented, putting the crutches back down.   
Jaden turned and walked away, heading toward an alcove set into the other side of the room that appeared to lead to a kitchen. Fives watched her go, sighed, looked around again and then pulled the data pad out of his belt pouch and turned it on, searching for an entry on the Empire.


	9. Chapter 9

Luke stepped slowly into the 3rd floor foyer of the Coruscant apartment complex; the walls were painted an off white, and showed more than a few signs of wear. A large painting of flowers hung adjacent to the turbolift doors, its frame cracked and worn. He looked up and down the hall, sensing the struggles and the joys that had soaked into the fabric of the Force over the years. At the end of the hallway stood a woman in a police uniform. She had her back to him, and was studying a datapad and tapping her foot against the stained tile floor. Luke walked towards her, and stopped a few paces away. He cleared his throat.  
"Excuse me, Officer?" he said. The woman jumped slightly, then turned on her heel to face him. She had pleasant features and deeply tanned skin, her green eyes widened when she saw the lightsaber hanging on his belt. Snapping a salute, the woman said,  
"Master Skywalker! I'm officer Oda Marl. Sorry I didn't hear you walk over; I was just going over the case notes." She handed the datapad to Luke and continued,  
"I'm guessing Senator Organa-Solo filled you in?" Luke nodded and the woman relaxed.  
"Are the parents at home?" Luke asked, glancing at the datapad. The screen showed a detailed report on the family of one of the kidnapped children. An eight year old boy named Adan had been taken. In his picture he was grinning hugely, pointing out a gap where he had lost one of his teeth.   
Luke looked back to the officer.  
"Yes, both parents are here, Jayle and Senna. They're pretty upset, as you can imagine." She said. She knocked on the door and then opened it, as she entered she called out.

"Mrs and Mrs Boro? There's someone who'd like to talk to you, if that's alright." Luke stepped in after Officer Marl, closing the door behind him. He followed the officer down a short entryway and stepped into a well-maintained sitting area, brightly lit and very comfortable. A matching couch and chair were arranged around a low table in the center of the room. A vase of flowers sat in the middle of the table, with several toy starships scattered around it. A Mirialan couple sat on the couch, faces etched with pain. One woman, her black hair pulled away from her face into a messy bun, looked up as Luke and Officer Marl approached, she wrapped her arm around her wife and pulled her close as she said,  
"Officer Marl, do you have any news?"   
Oda shook her head sadly, then gestured to Luke and said,  
"Nothing yet I'm afraid, however, this is Jedi Master Luke Skywalker, he's here to help." Luke stepped forward and offered his hand to the woman. Her blue eyes widened as they shook hands.  
"THE Luke Skywalker? Please have a seat," she gestured to the empty chair and Luke sat, leaning forward as she continued,  
"I'm Senna, this is my wife Jayle," Jayle gave Luke a tired smile; her eyes were grey, and she wore her black hair tied neatly into a long braid. Her thin face was streaked with tears. Luke smiled in what he hoped was a reassuring manner and said,

"I'm pleased to meet you both, although I wish it was under more pleasant circumstances. Can you tell me what happened?"   
Officer Marl had stepped back, and was standing with her hands folded behind Luke's chair. Jayle and Senna looked at each other and then Jayle spoke up, her voice ached as she said,  
"It was all very strange. Our son, Adan, he...he was taken a few nights ago. Right out of his bed," She paused and took a shaky breath. Senna reached out and picked one of the toy starships off of the tabletop, a model X-wing, Luke noted. She slowly turned the toy over in her hands as Jayle continued their story.  
"We didn't hear anything, Senna was sleeping and I had just gotten up for a quick drink of water, when I decided to peek on in him and...he could have been gone for hours and we didn't even know..." She choked back a sob. Senna reached out to comfort her wife, pulling her close. Jayle rested her head on her shoulder and continued to cry quietly as Senna picked up where she left off.  
"Jayle came to wake me up at around midnight, she told me she couldn't find Adan. We looked all over, at first we weren't too worried; He's a light sleeper so occasionally he'll get up in the middle of the night to play, but...he wasn't here." She looked down at the toy in her lap.  
"When we couldn't find him in our apartment I went out and checked the hall, just in case..."  
"Did your neighbors hear anything?" Luke asked. Senna shook her head,  
"Not a thing. When I came back inside Jayle had found something in Adan's room." Senna looked to Officer Marl, who reached into a pocket on her vest and pulled out a small clear bag. She handed it to Luke,   
"This object was placed under Adan's pillow; we've analyzed it, and as far as we can tell it's just a carved piece of stone. But, hopefully your Jedi stuff can get something off of it." 

Luke took the bag and looked closer at the small oval-shaped object inside. It was roughly the size of his palm, made out of a dark stone that had been polished so it shone in the warm light of the sitting room. He turned it over and there, skillfully carved onto the flat side was the symbol; a pair of crossed blades crowned with a nine-pointed star. He looked at officer Marl.  
"Can I take this out of the bag?" He asked. She nodded,  
"Sure, we already checked for prints and DNA samples; it was as clean as could be." she said. Luke thanked her and slid the polished stone out of the bag.   
It sat heavily in his palm, and he could feel the Dark side resonating off it in pulsing waves. Closing his eyes, Luke placed his other hand over the stone so it was enclosed between his palms and reached out in the Force. He concentrated, trying to get any sense of the people who had placed this object here, and why they had taken Adan. The impressions he received were varied; some felt ancient, faded memories of dark powers and darker deceits, others were newer, and he narrowed his focus to those. Someone with subtle and sinister powers had come into contact with this talisman...and as Luke went deeper into the Force, he uncovered a sense of old hatred; and deep pain. He opened his eyes slowly. As the room came into focus, he noticed all the rest of the room's occupants staring curiously at him, Officer Marl leaning around the chair to see what was going on. He slipped the talisman back into the bag, feeling a little self-conscious as he handed it back to Officer Marl. She took it, glancing from it to Luke and back again before gingerly tucking bag and stone back into her vest pocket. Jayle spoke up,  
"What...what was that? Were you able to...sense anything?" Luke sat back a little in the chair, folding his hands in his lap before speaking,  
"Well, I was able to pick up some impressions of the person or persons who placed this talisman in your son's room, do you think you could show me exactly where you found it?" Jayle looked a little confused but nodded, saying,  
"Of course, it's just down that hall, follow me." She stood up and Luke and Senna rose to follow her.   
As they walked down the short hall, Jayle asked,  
"What did you mean by "pick up" Master Skywalker, were you able to learn anything about the people who took Adan?" She didn't sound overly hopeful, and Luke regretted that what he was about to say wouldn't do much to alleviate her fears.

"Nothing concrete I'm afraid. There were...impressions left in the Force by the people who have a strong connection to what that talisman is and what it represents-is this Adan's room?" They had stopped just outside a door at the end of the hall, Senna nodded and stepped forward, turning the handle to let them in. Luke stepped slowly inside. The overhead light had been left on, revealing a brightly painted and comfortably furnished child's room. A small bed covered in a handmade quilt was along one wall, a desk covered in model starships and other various toys sat just underneath a curtained window. Although the room was full of pleasant memories and joy, the taint of the Dark Side overshadowed it all; Luke felt it wash over his skin as he stepped onto the plush green carpet, the darkness seemed to slither down his throat and left an unpleasant ringing in his ears. He swayed slightly, shook his head and regained his balance.

"Master Skywalker?" He heard the police woman say, her voice was quiet and seemed to come from a great distance. He held up a hand to indicate he was alright and shook his head again, the ringing subsided and he brought his focus back to the room. There was no indication that anything odd had happened, other than the heady presence of the Dark Side. He turned to face the three woman and said,  
"Did you notice anything amiss in this room the night Adan disappeared? Anything moved, or the window left open?" Senna shook her head, and Officer Marl spoke up,  
"We did a thorough sweep of the room Master Skywalker, no prints, no DNA, nothing odd. We're assuming they entered and exited through the window, but there's no actual evidence to prove it." Luke nodded, the window would be the best choice, he walked to the desk and leaned over it, unlocked the window and slid it open. The window was fairly large, large enough for a smallish humanoid to crawl through, and the desk was certainly small enough for someone nimble to climb over. He reached out and brushed his fingers across the window ledge; he frowned, trying to pick up any indication of who had been through here. Luke slowly pulled the window shut again, and stepped away from the desk. The presence of the Dark Side was still strong, but he was unable to pick up any specifics, much to his frustration. He could feel the curiosity and subtle hopes radiating from Jayle and Senna, and knowing that he would be unable to shed any light on their son's disappearance right away broke his heart. He turned and slowly walked the small space to where the women were waiting.

"Jayle, Senna, I'm sorry but I can't seem to be able to pick anything else up from Adan's room." Luke said, the Mirialan women gripped each other's hands and Senna nodded, Jayle hung her head and said nothing. He gently touched Senna's shoulder before continuing,  
"However, that doesn't mean things are without hope. If I can take the talisman back to the Jedi academy with me, there are people there who could help me uncover what has happened to your son." He looked to Officer Marl as he finished speaking, she nodded, reaching into her vest pocket to pull out the bag she stored there earlier. She handed it to Luke saying,  
"Senator Organa-Solo gave you top-security clearance on this case," she cracked a smile, and said,  
"I do need this back though." Luke nodded.  
After spending a few more moments talking to Senna and Jayle, Luke and Officer Marl exited the apartment. As the door shut behind them, Officer Marl suggested the go to meet the other families whose children had been taken.  
++++

Much later, Luke bade Officer Marl goodbye at the spaceport and climbed into the pilot seat of his X-wing. The police woman raised her hand in a wave but before Luke could wave back, she had disappeared into one of the doors connecting the landing platform with the rest of the spaceport. Luke slowly fastened his harness, re-adjusted his helmet and began the pre-flight checks; running through them mechanically while his mind was occupied with the troubling facts he had learned. Or lack of facts, more like.

The three children who had been kidnapped were the Mirialian Adan, a teenage Rodian girl named Yanna, and a Codru-ji pup called Hrisk. Other than the fact that each child was showing signs of Force sensitivity; there was very little to connect them. They lived in different areas, were from different socioeconomic levels, had wildly different interests and Hrisk wasn't even able to speak yet. Luke signaled the air traffic control droid he was ready to take off and it flashed a bright blue light in acknowledgment. Settling back into the pilot's seat Luke took off; at a faster speed than was strictly necessary. The air traffic control droid 's blue light flashed again in annoyance as the X-Wing blasted out into the atmosphere. Once he was surrounded by the velvety blackness of space, away from the ever-twinkling lights of Coruscant, Luke set his hyperdrive to Yavin 4 and watched the stars blur into pale lines of fire. He closed his eyes as he entered hyperspace, he needed to think, to meditate and see what the Force had to show him.


	10. Chapter 10

Fives sat hunched over a low table in the mostly empty cafeteria, staring at the blinking lines of text on the small datapad laying on the stone table top in front of him. He rubbed his forehead, unsure of where to start. He knew the earliest date would be the logical place to begin; but every time he went to select it his hand shook and his gut would clench so tight it hurt. He was afraid to read what it said. He wanted desperately to know what had happened in the war he had been created to fight, but as soon as Jaden had gone to the kitchens Fives recalled the cryptic response Kyle Katarn had given him when Fives had asked if they had won the war he and his brothers had fought so hard for. They had won...but lost everything. What exactly that meant, Fives didn't yet know, and he wasn't sure if he was up for another horrible revelation today. He sat up and stretched; his back cramping from hunching so low. He looked back at the datapad; it lay there innocently, soft blue light emanating from its small screen. Fives hesitated, and then picked it up and turned it off. He looked at the now dark screen for another moment before sliding it into a pouch on his belt. He wouldn't, no, couldn't face finding out what had happened right now. He looked up to stare across the large room, and spotted Jaden walking towards him, balancing two very full trays of food, complete with a beverage, in each hand. She smiled as she caught his eye and sped up, Fives was positive she was going to drop the whole mess but she made it over without a hitch; gracefully arranging the trays on the table between them before sitting lightly on the bench opposite him. She was grinning, and rubbed her hands together before pulling two sets of eating utensils out of her pocket and handing one to Fives. He took them and paused; realizing he didn't recognize most of the food in front of him. Jaden placed her utensils on the table and said,  
"Ok, I didn't know what you like, so I grabbed a little of everything-" She stopped and raised an eyebrow, noting the look of confusion on his face.  
"What, never eaten cafeteria food before? It's pretty delicious, although if you don't like spicy food I'd avoid the Nerf cubes; Sara was cooking today and she's a little heavy-handed with the spices." She pointed with her fork to a steaming bowl of rich brown stew; it had a intensely pungent aroma that Fives couldn't decide was appealing or not. He looked from the assortment of dishes to Jaden and back again, not sure how to say he'd rarely eaten real food before, and certainly never any of this food. The GAR had served rations that were perfectly engineered to meet the nutritional needs of soldiers, and while they had certainly been filling, Fives didn't think the bland white cubes counted as actual food. Other than the occasional foraging he had been forced to undergo while on a mission, that was the extent of his culinary experience. Jaden stared at him, her head tilted to the side and an odd expression on her face.  
"Why are you looking at that plate of pastries like you've never seen one in your life?" She asked, voice incredulous. Her eyes widened,  
"Wait-you have actually had dessert before, right?" She sounded seriously concerned. Fives picked up one of the delicate pastries and examined it. It was made out of a pale dough and shaped into a small sphere, topped with a liberal coating of rough sugar crystals. It looked delicious. He ate it in one bite, closing his eyes and chewing slowly to savour the taste and texture of the dessert. He'd never eaten anything like it; light and a little flaky, the sugar crystals crunched pleasantly between his teeth and left a delicate citrus flavour on his tongue after he swallowed. He opened his eyes, and saw Jaden staring goggle-eyed at him from across the table, her mouth hanging open a little in surprise. Hoping she didn't think he was crazy, Fives felt the back of his neck redden and cleared his throat to hide his embarrassment. He picked up another pastry, turning it over in his hand while saying  
"No, I've never eaten dessert before. What are these called?" before popping it into his mouth. Jaden's face morphed from confused disbelief to horrified disbelief; she had almost comically expressive features and for a moment Fives wondered if she might be mocking him, but the shock in her voice was genuine as she said,  
"Never? You've never eaten a dessert? Not even once?" Fives shook his head and ate another one of the pastries, they were really delicious. Jaden watched him eat for another moment and then said,  
"Well, then you've got a lot of catching up to do. Those are called Crumble Puffs, and they go really well with this spiced tea." She handed him one of the glasses and he mumbled a thank you before taking a quick sip. She was right, the tea mixed wonderfully with the citrus from the pastry and he finished the entire glass in one go. Fives set the glass back down on the table and Jaden immediately handed him another plate.  
"These are my favourite; Sweet-sand cookies, if you dip them in Bantha milk they're even better." She picked up one of the cookies, dunked it into a glass of blue liquid next to her, and ate it with relish. Fives did the same. They continued to eat and talk for the next hour or so; the conversation flowed easily from a discussion about different foods-Jaden was horrified when Fives described the bland GAR ration bars he had eaten every day of his life-to Fives asking Jaden about the Jedi temple. She explained that this particular Jedi temple had been established about 10 years ago by Master Skywalker and Fives nearly choked on the spoonful of Nerf cubes he had just been about to swallow-it tasted much better than it smelled-he had forgotten that General Skywalker was here. Although, if he remembered correctly, hadn't he overheard Jaden refer to him as "Luke"?  
"You alright Fives?" Jaden asked as he coughed into his fist. He nodded and swallowed, taking a sip of water before asking,  
"Now, when you say Master Skywalker, you mean General Anakin Skywalker, right?" If forty-three years had past it was perfectly reasonable to expect General Skywalker to still be alive; he would be rather old, older than any Clone, but certainly not too old to continue teaching Jedi. Jaden slowly lowered her fork to the table and bit her lip.  
"Because I thought I overheard you refer to him as Luke while we were in the med bay, but that can't be right. Unless he has a brother?" Fives continued, the look on Jaden's face clearly showed she was struggling to think of what to say. She opened her mouth, closed it again and then bit the other side of her lip.  
"Master Skywalker, isn't Anakin Skywalker's brother...he's his son." She said.  
Fives' felt his eyebrows practically shoot off of his face.  
"But, Jedi aren't allowed to have children!" He exclaimed. He knew this for a fact, remembering when he was still a young cadet and had asked General Ti if she had any children of her own. She had explained in her impossibly calm voice, that Jedi were forbidden to form attachments of any kind; and that having children was a very serious form of attachment. Fives frowned; General Skywalker may have played fast and loose with the rules sometimes, but that didn't mean he'd break such a fundamental principle of the Jedi Order. Fives had been raised to practically revere the Jedi, and their ability to remain detached from a situation was one of the reasons they made such effective leaders. Jaden looked surprised as he continued,  
"Jedi are forbidden to form attachments; I highly doubt General Skywalker would have broken that rule." he said, but even as the words left his mouth. he realized he didn't have any real basis for that statement. As much as Skywalker had liked to joke around with his men, Fives didn't even recall ever having a one-on-one conversation with the man. Jaden was silent for a long moment. Fives shut his mouth tightly, becoming aware that he had been spouting rhetoric, and that Jaden, as different as she was from any Jedi he had met before, was still a Jedi. He was sure he had crossed a line somewhere, and didn't know if it would be best to apologize or just let the subject drop. Jaden had been looking at the table while his thoughts whirled, but just as he opened his mouth to speak, she said.  
"Forbidden to form attachments...how sad." Her expression was thoughtful, and she continued slowly,  
"Well, maybe that's how the Jedi used to be, and I want to ask you more about that in a minute, but that certainly isn't the rule now. A lot of the Jedi here have 'attachments' as you called them. Tionne is married, as are several other Jedi; and I know there are more than a few students here that also have their own children." She sat a little straighter in her seat and asked,  
"Did you read anything off that data pad Tionne gave you while I was grabbing lunch?" Fives shook his head, not wanting to admit that he had been trying to avoid this conversation earlier. Jaden's head-tails were twitching, Fives noted, the ends curling and uncurling in a gesture reminiscent of someone clenching and un-clenching their fists. She cleared her throat and said,  
"Like I said before, I'm not that great at explaining things, but I think if you know a little about what happened to the original Jedi, the Jedi that you knew, that would help." She cleared her throat again and readjusted her position on the bench before resuming speaking,  
"Around 30 years ago, the Old Republic-which you probably just called the Republic-fell at the end of the Clone Wars. According to the history holos, the Jedi attempted to assassinate the leader of the Republic and take control...so, they were wiped out, the temple was destroyed and any Jedi that were left were hunted across the galaxy." Fives felt his jaw drop a little as Jaden spoke. The Jedi, attempt to kill Chancellor Palpatine? Impossible! He was about to interrupt but stopped himself as Jaden continued talking,  
"After that, any mention of the Jedi was kind of taboo; people forgot they ever really existed, the senate was disbanded and the galaxy had a new ruler, Emperor Palpatine. Which was when the Republic was changed to the Empire. A lot of other things changed, and not for the better. But, there was a rebellion, and when I was about eleven or twelve, they overthrew the Emperor, the Empire was defeated and some sense of peace was restored to the Galaxy." Jaden was still talking, but Fives was no longer listening: the Republic, the Senate and everything he had been created to fight for had been destroyed. All the pain, the lost lives, the hard won battles; all for nothing.  
All for nothing.  
And he hadn't even been there to help. Fives wasn't stupid, he knew that one more Clone wouldn't have tipped the balance of the war, but he still felt like he had failed. Failed in the very purpose of his existence.  
A cascade of emotions was coursing through him; he wanted to scream and throw something, or break down and cry, do something to release the flood of emotions.  
But he just sat there, barely aware of his surroundings, lost inside himself.  
Fives felt a gentle touch on his arm. Jaden had reached across the table and her black gloved fingers were resting on the blue painted metal of his wrist guard. He looked at her blankly, there was a gentle look of concern on the Twi'lek's face, she opened her mouth to speak, seemed to change her mind, and then simply said,  
"I'm sorry Fives." In a quiet, solemn voice.  
For a brief moment, Fives wanted to reach across the table and hug her. But he didn't, and instead just nodded slowly. After another moment, Jaden removed her hand from his arm and said in a quiet voice,  
"I'm sorry that I can't tell you more than just the basics. But, Master Luke was there, he was an integral part of the Rebellion. He might be able to tell you more..." She trailed off, and Fives nodded again. If this Luke Skywalker really was General Skywalker's son, he really did want to talk to him. But before that, he needed to talk to Echo, and to Captain Rex, and Commander Tano as well. Fives took a deep breath. He needed to focus, to deal with the most immediate problem; how to wake them up.  
He took another steadying breath, pushing his panic and fear to the back of his mind; as he had done a million times before, forcing his mind to only think about the issues at hand. Jaden was watching him closely, her expression tinged with pity. Fives looked away, staring down at the empty plates and cups. He hated seeing that in her eyes. Pity was for people who were unable to help themselves or those around them; and while he was beyond helping the Republic he had been born to fight for, he was alive, moving and still able to help his brothers. Suddenly he had an idea, Fives rubbed at his forehead, realizing how foolish he was for not thinking of this before.  
"Can we go back to the med centre? I think we should try and wake up Captain Rex."  
Jaden blinked, he had obviously startled her, she looked around at the messy table and began piling plates and glasses haphazardly onto a tray,  
"Of course, I just need to take these to the kitchen." she said. She stood up and balanced the tower of dirty dishes and trays carefully before practically sprinting across the cafeteria. Fives went to stand up, and winced as he realized how sore his leg muscles were. He carefully stepped over the bench and took a moment to stretch his calves as Jaden came hurrying back. She grabbed the crutches and held them out to him as he straightened up. Fives eyed the crutches, then took an experimental step forward; his muscles twinged, but he felt much more steady than he had an hour ago.  
"Oh, ok, I'll just hold on to these then." Jaden said, sounding a little shocked.  
They made their way back through the hallways to the med centre, Fives was still moving slowly, but much more confidently than he had been while on the crutches. He didn't know if he was actually recovering that quickly, or if he was being spurred on by determination alone. They reached the door and Jaden opened it with a wave of her hand, she walked quickly through the doorway and leaned the crutches against the wall while calling,  
"Leena? You in here?" Fives followed at a slightly slower pace, resting with his hand on the door frame for a second as he heard Leena's indistinct reply from further in the room. He looked around the room, expression hardening as he saw the Echo, Rex and Commander Tano stretched out like corpses on the beds. But they weren't corpses, he wouldn't let them be. Jaden had walked to the back of the room and was speaking quickly to the doctor, who was seated at a neatly organized desk. He went to stand next to Jaden and Leena stood up to meet him,  
"Fives-how are you feeling?" She asked, her green eyes flicking from his determined expression to the crutches Jaden had left propped against the wall.  
"I'm fine. I think we should try and get Captain Rex out of his coma, and Commander Tano, if we can." He spoke quickly, suddenly feeling that if he didn't do something to help now he might explode. Leena frowned slightly, and turned to pick up a datapad on the desk next to her.  
"I agree, although while you were away, I ran some more tests and found something unusual," she gestured for them to walk next to the bed where the Togruta Jedi was lying and quickly grabbed another datapad before joining them. Fives stood at the foot of the bed, looking down at the young Jedi. She looked peaceful, but it was very unsettling to see her so still. Commander Tano was usually so full of life, always ready with a snappy comeback or to laugh at a joke. Jaden had moved to the left side of the bed and was squinting at one of the holo-screens suspended on the wall. Leena bustled over, tapped a few things on the data pad she was holding and then enlarged the screen Jaden had been looking at. It showed a gently undulating wavelength that was far to smooth to be a heartbeat. Leena readjusted her head wrap and said,  
"This is a representation of her brain waves; see how the peaks and dips are so small and smooth?" She pointed out the gentle pattern on the screen. Fives had no idea what brain waves were supposed to look like, but he assumed from the tone of the Doctor's voice that they weren't supposed to look like that. But she sounded more interested than worried, so he took that as a good sign as she said,  
"I've only seen something like this once before; When Luke allowed me to monitor his brain waves while he was deep in a Force trance." Jaden looked from the screen to Leena and frowned,  
"Alright, and that means..." She let her sentence hang unfinished, and Leena shrunk the screen and turned to face them both.  
"It means that she's buried very deeply in the Force. So deep in fact that I'm not even sure how to wake her." She continued quickly as Jaden let out a quiet groan,  
"But that doesn't mean she can't wake up! I need to talk to Luke as soon as he gets back, but as far as I know, she could come out of it at any time." She finished with an attempt at a smile. Fives closed his eyes and rubbed at them; his head was starting to ache and he could feel the panic beating at the edge of his mind; there had to be something they could do. Which is exactly what Jaden said as he opened his eyes.  
"As soon as Luke gets back I'm going to ask for his advice, it's far from a hopeless situation." Leena said reassuringly, Jaden looked a little taken aback.  
"Gets back? Where did he go?" She asked with a frown, Leena picked up her datapads and walked across to the bed where Rex was stretched out. Jaden and Fives followed as she said over her shoulder,  
"Tionne told me he had to go to Coruscant; something to do with kidnappings?" Jaden grimaced,  
"Of course, how did I forget! There were several force-sensitive kids who were kidnapped recently; I overheard Senator Organa-Solo telling Master Skywalker about it earlier." Leena stopped in her tracks,  
"Oh, how awful! I hope Luke was able to find something out..." She pursed her lips and finished walking to the other bed.  
"While you were out, I took the liberty of removing the implant from the Captain as well; I was about to attempt to wake him when I realized why the Commander was still unconscious." She gently turned Rex's head to the side to show a small bacta patch placed on the side of his scalp. She paused, and then turned to look at Fives.  
"Fives...you know the Captain, do you think he'd have the same sort of resistance to someone, for lack of better terminology, interacting with his subconscious as Echo?" Fives's frown deepened. He knew Captain Rex fairly well; he was cautious and always prepared for the worst, but was much more willing to take a chance than Echo was. He shook his head,  
"I don't think so, but it's a rather strange experience, so I can't say for sure. I just thought I was having a weird dream." The Doctor nodded, and Jaden looked curious,  
"I wanted to ask you about that Fives, who was I in your, dream I guess you could call it?" Leena looked up curiously from examining Rex's vitals,  
"You saw Jaden as someone else? Not just an indistinct form?" She asked, sounding intrigued, Fives grimaced, he'd forgotten about that.  
"You looked like another Twi'lek Jedi I knew; another general." He replied shortly. He really would rather talk about this later, or not at all, remembering where he thought that dream would end up going. Leena made in intrigued sort of sound and asked,  
"Unusual, did you know her particularly well?"  
"Not really, look, I know this must be fascinating but I'd really like to make sure my commanding officer is alive and out of a very long coma." He snapped. Leena looked embarrassed and apologized,  
"I'm sorry, you're right." She shook her head and then took a step away from the bed, settling onto the floor and closing her eyes. Fives bit his lip, frustrated and a little embarrassed that he had let his temper get the better of him. The panic was still bubbling away at the back of his mind, and he couldn't shake the feeling that every second they wasted was leading towards something terrible. Leena became unnaturally still, and Fives assumed she had gone into a trance of some kind. Jaden caught his eye and gestured to take a step back. He moved a few paces away and she followed, stepping close as she said in a quiet tone,  
"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have even asked. I can't even begin to understand how stressful this must be, but trust me, your friends are in good hands." Fives crossed his arms and nodded.


	11. Awakening: Rex

In the semi-darkness of the LAARTi, Rex sat tense and ready; checking his blasters repeatedly.  
Loaded, primed, ready to fire. Dim red lights lined the floor of the craft, as deeply familiar as the rain clouds of Kamino. Rex glanced to his left, a neat row of armored troopers stood at attention, each man holding on the metal rung just above their helmeted heads. Their armor was white, with no identifying marks or scrapes- a boatload of shinies. Rex looked to his right- more of the same. As they hurtled down through the atmosphere, the troopers rocked slightly in reaction to each buffet of wind as the LAARTi dropped lower and lower, but otherwise they didn't move; unnaturally still and quiet for men about to take part in their first real mission. 

Must be nerves, Rex thought, as he checked the other of his twin blasters. Loaded, primed, ready to fire. Again and again he checked his guns. Again and again he looked to his left, then his right.

In the semi-darkness of the LAARTi, Rex sat tense and ready; checking his blasters repeatedly. Loaded, primed, ready to fire. Dim red lights lined the floor of the craft, as deeply familiar as the rain clouds of Kamino. Rex glanced to his left, a neat row of armored troopers stood at attention, each man holding on the metal rung just above their helmeted heads. Their armor was white, with no identifying marks or scrapes- a boatload of shinies. Rex looked to his right- more of the same. As they hurtled down through the atmosphere, the troopers rocked slightly in reaction to each buffet of wind as the LAARTi dropped lower and lower, but otherwise they didn't move; unnaturally still and quiet for men about to take part in their first real mission. Must be nerves, Rex thought, as he checked the other of his twin blasters. Loaded, pri-

"Captain Rex?"  
A voice crackled out of the overhead comm, Rex looked up sharply from his blaster, startled at the change in routine.

"Oddball, what is it?" He asked, noting the pilot's uncharacteristically nervous tone.

"Just, uh, checking in Captain, how're things, uh, going back there..." This had never happened before . Tense as a coiled spring, Rex stood and looked around. None of the other men so much as twitched at the movement, the bloody glow of the landing lights reflected in their black visors. Rex tightened his grip on the blasters, fingers hovering just inside the trigger guards.  
Something was very wrong.  
He was hyper-aware of his heartbeat, the pounding rhythm almost drowning out the steady whump-whump of the landing craft's engines.  
"What's the situation Odd-ball?" He asked, careful to keep his voice as neutral as possible. There was a weird crackling sensation at the edges of his vision that didn’t go away no matter how rapidly he blinked. Oddball didn’t reply immediately, Rex could hear the pilot breathing over the intercom as he cautiously approached the entrance to the cabin and stopped, hand resting on the curved metal of the hatchway.  
He couldn’t shake the sensation that whoever was in the pilot’s seat wasn’t Oddball. There was no reason for him to think that, the voice certainly sounded like Oddball, but there was a feeling in Rex’s gut that he knew better than to ignore.

“No situation uh, Sir, just checking in.” Oddball said. Rex waited a beat then took two brisk steps into the cockpit and grabbed the pilot by the shoulder, yanking him around to face Rex as he pointed his drawn blaster at the man. Oddball yelped in surprise as his helmet cracked against the headrest as Rex snarled

“Bucket off! NOW!” Oddball slowly reached up and placed his hands on either side of his helmet, Rex tensed, not knowing what he would see but completely positive that it wouldn’t be the face of his trusted pilot.  
The edge of the white helmet cleared the man’s chin and Rex felt his gut clench as the helmet was lifted the rest of the way off, revealing a humanoid head that had no face. No, that wasn’t right, there were features, but they kept shifting and changing, seemingly unable to settle. Rex tightened his grip on the creature’s shoulder and shook it roughly, blaster barrel pointed square between its ever-changing eyes.

“Captain please! I can explain!” it said. Rex pressed his blaster to the creature’s forehead.

“Where is Oddball?! What did you do to him.” Rex growled. The creature shuddered in his grip and he inched his finger back onto the trigger. He was milliseconds from firing when the creature vanished from beneath his grip, he curled his fingers and suddenly the floor had dropped out and he was falling, falling to his death-

Jaden yelped as Rex’s eyes snapped open and he lurched forward, hand grasping her neck almost faster than she could react. Fives flung himself onto Rex, slipped a little on the tile floor and grabbed the captain by the shoulders.

“Whoa, whoa captain! Stand down!”  
Rex was breathing fast and shallow, his eyes unfocused. Fives shook him slightly, as Jaden attempted to peel Rex’s fingers from her neck. 

“Rex, Rex can you hear me? It’s me, Fives.” He said. Rex seemed to snap out of his trance and his shoulders slumped, hand dropping from Jaden’s throat as he pressed the other against his forehead. He rubbed the palm in a circle just above his eye and grimaced. 

“Ugh...Fives? Wha-what’s going on? Where’s Oddball?” He groaned. Fives glanced at Jaden who had taken several steps away from the bed and was massaging her throat, golden eyes still a little shocked. 

“Oddball’s...not here Captain, you’re in the med bay.” Fives said as calmly as he could manage. That had not been the reaction he’d been expecting, and judging by the look on Leena’s face as she got shakily to her feet, not the one she’d been expecting either.  
Rex squinted and blinked rapidly, turning his head away from the bright light in the med centers ceiling. 

“What the hell happened Fives?”

Fives opened and shut his mouth several times. How in the stars to explain.

"Its...a long story captain-for now, you've got hibernation sickness. Try...try to relax." Fives felt this advice was a little hollow as he was so far from relaxed it was laughable. Rex groaned again and rubbed furiously at his eyes.

"Hibernation sickness?! What's the meaning of this?" He squinted around at Jaden and Leena, expression both angry and confused.

"Who are you?" He snapped.  
Leena raised a calming hand, her soft voice loud against the ringing silence.

"My name is Leena, Captain. I'm a jedi healer-"

"A Jedi? Stang, of course there's Jedi." Rex said, still rubbing at his eyes.

"Where's General Skywalker?" Fives shot Jaden another look and she shook her head.

"Uh, not here, sir, just try and relax." He muttered, patting Rex lightly on the shoulder. After a moment, the captain took his advice and leaned back against the bed, blinking furiously. His dark eyes darted back and forth, assessing the situation. Good old Rex; as alert and badass as ever. Fives couldn't help but chuckle.

"How are you feeling?" Leena asked, swooping in with a medical scanner and beginning to prod at Rex's legs and hands just as she had Fives'.

"Been better ma'am, but a more pressing question is who are you?" Rex asked, squinting at the brown robed Jedi. 

She smiled and gave a little bow,

"My name is Leena, a pleasure to meet you, Captain." She gestured to Jaden, long sleeve billowing with the movement.

"And this is Jaden Korr." Jaden smiled a little nervously, hand still at her throat. 

"Sorry about grabbing you ma'am, I was having a nightmare." Rex said apologetically.

"It's alright, mighty strong grip you have there captain." Fives chuckled again and slapped Rex on the shoulder, causing the other man to wince.

"Good ol' Rex, glad to have you conscious sir." 

A sudden bleeping sound from Jaden's wrist comm interrupted the conversation and she looked down, eyebrows raising as she read the message.

"Luke's back Leena, I'm going to go grab him." 

"Alright."

Fives watched Jaden hurry from the room and then looked back to Rex, his jovial expression fading.

"Captain, there's something I have to tell you."


	12. Chapter 12

Luke set the X-Wing down on the landing pad of the Jedi Academy without conscious thought; he was puzzling over the issue of the kidnapping. The lack of real clues made him nervous, the obvious presence of the Dark Side of the Force made him positively anxious. They had dealt with the cult of Marka Ragnos only a few months ago. Was this how things were going to be now? Luke closed his eyes behind the facemask of his helmet as Artoo ran through the disembarking protocols. If this was how the future was meant to unfold, pitting him and his students constantly against agents of the Dark Side- then they would deal with it.  
He trusted the other teachers at the Academy to help prepare the students to guard themselves against the lure of the Dark Side, and he trusted the students to listen and learn. 

That was the only way he could deal with it; He often told his sister that she couldn’t solve all the galaxy's problems on her own, and occasionally he had to remind himself of that too. 

Artoo beeped and warbled, saying he’d finished powering down the ship and could they please get out now. Luke smiled and chuckled, unbuckling his harness and pushing open the cockpit in one practiced motion. 

“Master Skywalker!”  
Luke looked down at the landing pad as someone-Jaden Korr- called his name. Her usually jovial features were set and worried, and Luke could feel waves of anxiety radiating off of her in the Force.

“Jaden-what’s the matter?” he asked, climbing down the ladder of his X-Wing.  
Artoo popped out of his compartment and blurbled interestedly as he rolled towards them.  
The Twi’lek ran over to them, her Lekku twisting in some gesture Luke hadn’t yet learned to recognize.

“Master Skywalker, I’m glad you’re back! There’s been some developments with the Clones...I think you should come meet them.” she said in a rush. Luke pulled off his helmet and ran a hand through his hair. It was getting long.

“Alright, let’s go then.”

They hurried through the ancient temple to the medbay, following the twisting pathways and waving at Kyle briefly before stopping at the sliding doors. Jaden slowed and let her hand hover over the button.

“Master, I should tell you, these men...they knew your father.” She said. Luke’s eyebrows raised and it felt like someone had pulled a rug out from under him.

“What!?” he gasped. 

“They were asking for, for a General Skywalker, and I thought they meant you at first, but obviously not...I just thought I’d let you know, before, before we went in.” She continued, looking nervous.  
Luke stared at her.

Of course, this had been a possibility, he and Kyle had looked up as much information about these soldiers earlier, and his own investigations into his father’s life before he became Darth Vader had brought to light the fact that he had served with Clone troopers in the Clone Wars, but the idea of getting to actually speak with someone who had known Anakin Skywalker...it took his breath away.

Luke suddenly wished he looked more like a Jedi Master and not a scruffy pilot; he had the deep and rather silly urge to make a good impression. His hand automatically went to his hair and he flattened it out. Jaden smiled and held out her hands. Luke stared, and then handed her his helmet.

“Thank you, Jaden, I...thank you.” He said quietly. 

“Ready?” She asked, waiting for his nod before pressing the button to open the door.

Rex sat in the bed, squeezing his hands into fists and then relaxing over and over again. Fives had done his best to explain, but the reality of their situation hadn’t sunk in.  
How could it?  
Forty years, gone?  
The war was history; HE was history. Rex rubbed his watering eyes with the back of his hand, the plastoid gauntlet hard against the bridge of his nose.  
This was going to take some time to process. He could feel panic and worry beating at the back of his mind, but he would not give into it.  
Not now, not here.

Fives was seated at his bedside, folding and unfolding his hands together in complete silence. He’d explained what had happened when he’d woken up, how he’d been so weak-the Jedi Healer, Leena, seemed flabbergasted that Rex wasn’t suffering nearly as much- how Echo was still unconscious, but through some trick of the Force the Jedi had been able to communicate with him.  
And he’d explained-with some input from the Leena- about the chips in their heads. Rex reached up and ran his palm over his scalp, feeling the small and innocuous bacta patch near his temple.

It was all so much; Rex was handling it, for now, but he really didn’t think he could manage to keep it together if there were any more world-shaking facts presented to him in, oh, the next century. 

Just then, the door to the med bay opened and two people came in; the young Jedi whom he’d nearly strangled earlier and a man with tousled blonde hair. Rex looked up and felt his eyes go wide.

“Captain, Fives, this is...Master Luke...Skywalker.” Jaden said.

Skywalker. Rex hadn’t needed to hear the name to recognize the man as a relative of General Skywalker. There was something about the chin; the blue eyes were strange but familiar at the same time.

Luke Skywalker took a step closer and after a moment's hesitation, held out his hand.

“It’s...an honor to meet you.” He said softly. He had a thin nose that looked familiar and too long hair that flipped up at the ends just like the Generals.

Rex simply stared.

“You’re...his son.” He said. Things clicked inside Rex’s head, things he had known, but not really...known. The General and the Senator. He’d known they’d been...close, had covered for their secret communications on more than one occasion, but he hadn’t believed their relationship had gone as far as...children.

Luke smiled, the corner of his mouth turning up just the way the Senator’s had when she’d made the same expression.

“By the stars…” Rex whispered, and then blinked, shook his head, and finally reached out to take the hand of his General’s son.

“Captain Rex...I served under your father for many years. A good man.” 

Fives, Jaden and Leena were silent as the dead, watching this interaction with wide eyes.

Rex shook Luke’s hand and then let it drop, feeling a shocked smile tug at the corners of his mouth.

“Is he, still around?” He asked hopefully. Luke’s face fell a little and that was all the confirmation Rex needed. A pain seized his heart and he looked down.

“Ah, I see...and the senator? Is she still alive?” he said. Fives raised his eyebrows and stood up, offering his seat to Luke. 

“I’m Fives, Sir, but, uh, that can wait. Here.” He scooted the stool over a little and Luke sat down without looking at him.

“Thank you, uh, Fives, I’m sure I’ll get to speak with you more soon, but, the senator?” He’d already re-focused on Rex. Fives didn’t take offense and went to stand next to Jaden.

“Senator who? Did, did you know my mother as well?” Luke asked, leaning forward. Rex felt another pang and smiled at him. The man sounded suddenly very young.

“Yes, Senator Amidala was...a great woman.” He said. Luke sat back and ran both his hands through his hair.

“I have so many questions…” Luke paused and stared into space for a long moment.  
“What were they like?” He asked quietly. Rex looked down at his hands, thinking about how to respond. What could he say? How to boil down years of friendship and camaraderie...and how did he explain about the senator? Luke seemed to be holding his breath, waiting for him to speak. A monitor beeped and Leena gave a very quiet cough that seemed to shake Luke from his reverie.

“I’m so sorry, you must have so much on your mind and all I can ask about is me.” He laughed and pinched the bridge of his nose,  
“Forgive me.” 

Rex started and a chuckle escaped him. 

“If I’m honest sir, finding out the general had a son is the least troubling thing I’ve learned today.” He said weakly. Luke laughed too.

“And a daughter.”  
Rex blinked.

“Twins.” Luke added

From across the room, Fives let out a shocked laugh, and the spell cast over Rex broke.

“Twins...by the stars...General Kenobi must have had a conniption.” He put a hand to his forehead in disbelief and found himself laughing as well. He could well imagine the look of disappointment on the bearded Jedi’s face and found himself wondering how this had happened, how the General had managed to have two children without anyone noticing. Or maybe they had, he would never know.

“Wait, you knew Old Ben? Ben Kenobi?” Luke asked, sounding more surprised-if that were even possible. Rex looked up in confusion.

“We served with General Obi-Wan Kenobi, I don’t know an Old Ben.” He replied.

“Yes! That was his name, but, he went by Ben when he was on Tatooine.”

“Tatooine!?”

Luke laughed again and shook his head.

“We have a lot to catch up on, but, I should let you rest…” he trailed off and looked to Leena, who gave a little nod. Luke stood up and reached out to shake Rex’s hand again.

“Thank you, I’m so glad to meet you...when you’re feeling better, perhaps we can talk more?” He asked, voice full of hope. Rex took Luke’s hand without hesitation this time and shook it firmly.

“Yes sir, I’d like that.” he said, wishing they could talk more now. If Luke had questions, Rex had a hundred more.  
Leena stepped forward and gently touched Luke’s arm,

“Luke, before you go, I need to ask your opinion on something.” she said and tugged him away from the bed.

“Captain, do me a favour and try to rest some more...it’s a miracle that you’ve recovered so quickly, but I’m concerned you’ll burn out if you keep pushing yourself.” She said to Rex. Rex sighed and settled back into the cushion. He highly doubted he’d be able to rest, his mind was going a thousand miles a minute. And he’d really like to talk to Fives without the Jedi listening. Some things couldn’t be discussed in front of others-like the titanic sense loss that was threatening to consume him. He shot Fives a look across the room and the Arc trooper nodded very slightly; he understood, was probably feeling the same thing. 

“Very well Ma’am,” he wondered if he should ask for some privacy, but he couldn’t very well shoo the Jedi out of her own medbay. Leena smiled at him and then turned back to Luke,

“Master Skywalker, there’s someone else you should meet.” She said, and gestured to another bed. Rex craned his neck to see around them, but without much luck. He tried to think back to who else had been on the mission to Lola Sayu, but other than the Generals, who obviously weren’t here, the only people they’d been frozen with were other clones. Fives made his way back to the stool at his bedside and sat down with a creak of armor, nodding towards the Jedi’s backs,

“He looks a lot like him, doesn’t he.” He whispered, itching at his goatee. Rex nodded, trying to listen in on the Jedi’s conversation. 

“So, there’s one other thing I haven’t told you yet...Commander Tano was on the mission too. She’s, she’s here.” Fives said quietly. Rex turned so quickly he got a crick in his neck.

“What!?” 

Fives nodded towards the Jedi on the opposite side of the room.  
“She’s here, and okay, but in some kind of Force, trance or something.” He said. Rex stared at him, and then looked back across the room. 

“Poor kid-who authorized her to come along?” Rex was sure it hadn’t been General Skywalker, and definitely not General Kenobi. Fives shrugged.

“Don’t know sir."

Rec stared across the room, feeling as if he were a mere speck about to be crushed by the weight of all that had happened, all that had changed.


End file.
